THE 

YOUNG CHRISTIAN 

AND THE 

EARLY CHURCH 



J. W. CONLEY 




Book JC-0 

Copyright N? 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



Cfte 

young Christian 

and the 

early Church 



Christian Culture Courses 
Baptist Young People s Union of America 



Cbc 

Voting Christian 

and the 

early Cburcb 



By 

3obn lUcsky Conlcy, D. D. 




Philadelphia 

jFJmericatt Baptist Publication Society 

Boston Chicago Atlanta 

New York St. Louis Dallas 



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LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Iwo Copies Hece.vta? 

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OOHY a. 



Copyright 1908 by the 
American Baptist Publication Society 



Published July, 1908 



jfrom tbe Socfetg'a own pre** 



PREFACE 

The following facts should be borne in mind in con- 
nection with this book : 

i. The division into two parts of ten chapters 
each is for the purpose of supplying two courses of 
study, each covering a period of ten weeks. Since, 
however, there is a natural division into these two 
periods, each part is in a measure complete in itself, 
and may be studied independent of the other. 

2. These studies are not a commentary on nor 
an exposition of the books of Acts, but they are a 
series of lessons based upon the Acts and the 
Epistles, setting forth those features which were 
most prominently connected with the early growth 
of Christianity. 

3. These lessons are for busy young people, such 
as constitute the rank and file of our young people's 
societies. It is hoped, however, that they may prove 
helpful also to students, teachers, ministers, and 
others. 

4. The treatment of each topic is suggestive 
rather than exhaustive. Many questions are neces- 
sarily left unanswered and much interesting matter 
is wholly untouched. 

5. The central thought in these studies is growth. 
The early churches were instinct with the forces 

5 



6 Preface 

of enlargement. The aim, therefore, has been 
to select for discussion those features which bear 
more or less directly upon this phase of early 
Christianity. 

6. The " Suggested Topics " are designed for 
papers and discussions. They should be assigned 
a week or more beforehand. Rightly used these 
may be made a very helpful feature of the work. 
Scriptural quotations are all from the " Ameri- 
can Standard Revision." 

7. The writer of these lessons is well aware that 
his work is marked with many imperfections. It 
has been done in a very limited time, and amid the 
ever-pressing demands of a very busy pastorate. As 
he has found a rich blessing in the preparation of 
these lessons, his earnest prayer is that others may 
be blessed in reading and studying them. 

Omaha, May, 1908. J* W* C. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Books upon Apostolic Christianity are so abundant, 
and so readily obtained that no attempt need here 
be made to give an exhaustive list : 

Early Days of Christianity (Farrar). 

Studies in the Early Church (Morgan). 

The Dawn of Christianity (Vedder). 

Life of St. Paul (Stalker). 

Commentary on Acts (Hackett). 

Life and Epistles of St. Paul (Conybeare and 

Howson). 
Planting and Training (Neander). 
Life and Work of Paul (Farrar). 
Apostolic Church (Thatcher). 
Beginnings of Christianity (Fisher). 
The Deaconship (Howell). 
Studies in Apostolic Age (Nordell). 
The Church (Hervey). 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface » . . 5 

Bibliography 7 

Chapter T ART 1 

I. A General Survey 13 

II. The Promise of the Father ........ 20 

III. Inauguration of the Work 27 

IV. Growth During this Period 34 

V. Conditions Within the Church 4 1 

VI. The Ordinances 49 

VII. The Conflict with Judaism 58 

VIII. The Beginning of Enlargement 66 

IX. The First Gentile Converts 73 

X. A New Leader Called 81 

Part II 

I. Entrance upon a New Period 91 

II. Paul' s Missionary Journeys 99 

III. Gentile Christians and Jewish Law .... 107 

IV. Persecutions and Imprisonments .... 114 
V. Paul's Letters 122 

VI. Labors of Others During this Period . . 130 

VII. Organization and Worship . 138 

VIII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper 147 

IX. Beginnings of Christian Giving 155 

X. Survey and Summary 163 



Parti 

Jerusalem as Center 

" To the Jew First " 



CHAPTER I 

A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE PERIOD 

The period which we are about to study is included 
in the first twelve chapters of the book of Acts. It 
extends over twelve years, from about a. d. 33 to 
a. d. 45 or, from the ascension of our Lord to the 
beginning of the first missionary journey of the 
Apostle Paul. There is a tradition, which Farrar 
pronounces probable, that the apostles were bidden 
not to leave Jerusalem for their general missionary 
work until twelve years from the time of Christ's 
resurrection. Whether or not there is anything to 
this tradition, it is true that when the church was 
scattered by persecution the apostles still remained 
in Jerusalem, and did no work so far as the records 
show, outside of that city until near the close of 
this twelve years. 

1. Divisions of this period 

This period falls naturally into two parts: The 
first, wholly Jewish, extends to the martyrdom of 
Stephen, a. d. 37. Up to that date the work of mak- 
ing converts was confined entirely, so far as can be 
determined, to the Jews and to Jerusalem. Then 
with the scattering of the church a transitional 
period was entered upon, extending to the time 

13 



14 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

when Paul began his direct aggressive missionary 
operations to the Gentiles. 

2. Rulers at this time 



Great changes were taking place in the political 
world. Tiberius Caesar, emperor at Rome, was an 
old man, incompetent and debauched. He died 
a. d. 37, the same year that Stephen was stoned, and 
was succeeded by the infamous Caligula, whose at- 
tempt to place his own statue as an object of wor- 
ship in the temple at Jerusalem may have been the 
reason that the Jews for a time ceased their perse- 
cution of Christians (Acts 9 : 31). Caligula was 
assassinated — a. d. 41 — and Claudius succeeded him 
and reigned until poison, administered by his wife, 
ended his course and Nero became emperor, a. d. 54. 

Pontius Pilate, by whose judgment Christ was 
crucified, continued procurator of Judea until Calig- 
ula became emperor when, upon a visit to Rome, 
" wearied with misfortunes/' he committed suicide. 
Petronius, procurator of Syria, then administered 
affairs in Judea until a. d. 41, when Herod 
Agrippa I was made king of all Palestine, and 
reigned three years, when he died a miserable 
death (Acts 8 : 23). Judea then again became a 
Roman province with Fadus as procurator. 

3. Persons active in the church 

The eleven apostles, or the Twelve, including 
Matthias, chosen in Judas' place, are all mentioned 



A General Survey of the Period 15 

by name, but Peter stands in the foreground. He 
preached on the day of Pentecost, and was the 
leader in the significant events immediately follow- 
ing. He dealt with Ananias and Sapphira, and later 
with Simon Magus. He was used to heal ^Eneas 
and to raise Dorcas to life. He preached the gospel 
to the Gentile Cornelius and was miraculously 
delivered from prison when Herod was about to 
behead him. In much of the work which Peter 
did, John was closely associated with him. Stephen, 
one of the seven set apart for a special work in the 
church, became a fearless preacher of the gospel, 
and was the first martyr. Philip, also one of the 
seven, became an effective evangelist, and led in the 
great revival in Samaria. On the desert road to 
Gaza he preached Christ to the treasurer of the 
powerful Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who 
became a convert. Saul of Tarsus was converted, 
and Barnabas with him took up the work of An- 
tioch, begun by unnamed disciples. Many others, 
not particularly mentioned, contributed largely to 
the great work accomplished during these important 
years. 

4. Places mentioned during this period 

Jerusalem was central. Here occurred the closing 
events of Christ's earthly ministry, and here began 
the stirring scenes of the triumphs of the risen 
Christ. Here was that " upper chamber " where the 
disciples tarried in prayer until they were clothed 



1 6 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

with power from on high. It was in this city, made 
sacred by a thousand memorable transactions, that 
the crowning event came in the descent of the Holy 
Spirit, to abide in the church throughout the gospel 
age. It was here that the marvelous manifestations 
of Pentecost took place and three thousand were 
added to the Lord in a single day. It was a Jeru- 
salem prison which held the first Christian prisoners, 
and it was here the earth was stained with the blood 
of the martyrs, Stephen and James ; and from here 
the church was scattered by persecution to go every- 
where preaching the word. 

Samaria was the scene of the first awakening 
outside of Jerusalem. " And there was great joy in 
that city." Lydda and Joppa were made memorable 
by Peter's visit to them as he " went throughout all 
parts." In the latter place the monks to-day profess 
to point out to travelers the house of " one Simon, 
a tanner, by the seaside/' where Peter had the re- 
markable vision which made him ready to preach 
the gospel to a Gentile centurion at Caesarea. 

With the conversion of Saul of Tarsus we are 
given a glimpse of Damascus, " The Head of Syria," 
and " The Eye of the East," and a little later we see 
Antioch, destined to play a very important part in 
the succeeding period. 

5. A time of beginnings 

It is very difficult for us, after so many cen- 
turies of Christian development, to appreciate the 



A General Survey of the Period 17 

position of those early disciples. Everything was 
new. They had no Christian history to guide them. 
There were no Christian institutions and organiza- 
tions, no formulated creeds, and no approved 
methods. They were at the beginning of a most 
remarkable movement, and very imperfectly under- 
stood the purpose and possibilities of the church of 
God. They had received a great commission and 
great promises, and in the coming of the Holy Spirit 
a great gift of power had been bestowed; and so 
they entered upon the most important work ever 
committed to men, and saw, as they went forward, 
most significant beginnings. 

There was the descent of the Holy Spirit and the 
beginning of his work of power in the church. 

There was the beginning of the larger views of 
truth. The old materialistic, Jewish conception of 
the kingdom gave way to the truer and more 
inspiring spiritual view. 

There was the beginning of church order and 
organization. Whatever view may be held as to 
the existence of the church before the day of Pente- 
cost, all must agree that at that time it began what 
may be termed an organic, self-conscious existence. 
After that event there was the continuing " steadfast 
in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in breaking 
of bread and the prayers" (2 : 42). We must 
not think of the Jerusalem church as being fully 
organized and officered at first, but under the leader- 
ship of the Holy Spirit church life and order were 

B 



1 8 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

begun and took on special forms as occasion 
demanded. 

There was the beginning of the conflict with 
Judaism. At first the Christians attended the 
temple worship and mingled freely with their Jewish 
brethren, but soon the essential lines of cleavage be- 
gan to appear, opposition and persecution arose, 
and Christianity came out more and more into its 
own independent position. It was so radically 
different from Judaism that the severance had to 
take place. 

There was also the beginning of the larger con- 
ception of brotherhood and duty. It required a 
vision from heaven to convince Peter that he should 
preach the gospel to the Gentile Cornelius, and those 
with him. The church hesitated at first to indorse 
what Peter had done, but concluded, after a full 
hearing of the matter, that " to the Gentiles also 
hath God granted repentance unto life " (Acts 
ii : 18). At first they very imperfectly grasped the 
magnitude of this truth. But the door had begun 
to open and no man could shut it. 

Quiz 

What time is embraced in this period of study? 
Divisions and their characteristics? Who were the 
rulers at this time? What persons in the church 
were especially prominent ? What place was central 
in the work? What city outside of Jerusalem first 



A General Survey of the Period 19 

received the gospel? What beginnings marked this 
period ? 

Suggested Topics 

The Roman world at this time. 
Jewish customs in reference to Gentiles. 
The life of Herod Agrippa I. 
Closing events in life of Pilate. 



CHAPTER II 

THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER 

The ascension of Jesus was preceded by a meeting 
with his disciples at Jerusalem at which " he charged 
them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for 
the promise of the Father which, said he, ye heard 
from me." And then to make plain to what promise 
he referred, he added : " For John indeed baptized 
with water, but ye shall be baptized in the Holy 
Spirit not many days hence " (Acts i : 4, 5). The 
promise then for which they were to wait 
was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In order to 
make the matter still more explicit and to give 
definiteness to their expectations he said : " Ye shall 
receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon 
you : and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the utter- 
most part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). These are 
the last recorded words of Christ, and are pro- 
foundly significant as bearing upon the mission of 
the church. 

1. The central work of the church 

" Ye shall be my witnesses." Luke 24 : 25-49 
should be carefully read in this connection. ;i Then 
opened he their mind that they might understand 
20 



The Promise of the Father 21 

the scriptures; and he said unto them, Thus it is 
written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again 
from the dead the third day; and that repentance 
and remission of sins should be preached in his 
name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 
Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send 
forth the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry 
ye in the city until ye be clothed with power from 
on high." It is made very plain that the central and 
supreme work of the church is that of witnessing. 
We are to testify to facts rather than philosophize 
and speculate about doctrines and theories. We 
are to tell what we know rather than what we guess. 
Peter and John, when commanded not to teach any 
more in the name of Christ, exclaimed : " We can 
not but speak the things which we saw and heard." 
It is not merely witnesses but " my witnesses." 
Christ must be central in our testimony. We must 
present his teachings, his character, his sacrifice, his 
resurrection, his power on earth to forgive sins, 
and his divinity. Paul understood the philosophies 
of his time, and saw clearly the need of social and 
political reforms, and yet he wrote : " Far be it 
from me to glory save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6 : 14). Any religious organ- 
ization or movement that belittles the place of 
Christ is unfaithful to the supreme work of the 
church, and in the end must fail in any real benefit 
to humanity. " Christ is the end, for Christ is the 
beginning." 



22 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

2. The extent of the work called for 

" In Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and 
to the uttermost part of the earth." This thought, 
implanted in the minds of the apostles, was a most 
extraordinary one. It rose above all national boun- 
daries and race distinctions, and took in the entire 
world : " Make disciples of all the nations." It 
was the largest and most revolutionary conception 
that man had ever entertained. The world was 
steeped in class prejudice, national hostility, and race 
hatred. But here was a little company being filled 
with the idea that they had a mission and a message 
to all peoples without any exceptions. " He made 
of one every nation of men to dwell on all the 
face of the earth" (Acts 17 : 24). All were in- 
volved in the same sin and condemnation, and all 
needed the same Saviour. 

3. The plan of this work 

It was to be systematic and orderly. The Great 
Commission (Matt. 28 : 19, 20) takes a general 
view of the work as a whole, and says : " Make 
disciples of all the nations." But in the final instruc- 
tions divisions in the work are suggested. They 
were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and 
Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. 
The work is one, the power one, the message one, 
and the needs of the world one; but the field is so 
vast and so diversified that there must be divisions in 
prosecuting the work. It may be pressing the 



The Promise of the Father 23 

thought a little too far, but many have called atten- 
tion to the fact that we have here suggested the 
great departments into which the work has been 
dividjed. Jerusalem suggests city missions, a work 
which in our day is taking on immense proportions ; 
Judea and Samaria speak of State, Provincial, and 
home missions, while " the uttermost part of the 
earth " takes us out into the great work of foreign 
missions. 

Another thought needs emphasizing at this point: 
One department of this work should not take 
precedence over another or be regarded as more 
fundamental than another. Intelligently and faith- 
fully, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the 
church should seek to accomplish the whole work. 
The work in Judea and Samaria was not to wait till 
the completion of the work in Jerusalem. Nor were 
Judea and Samaria to be fully evangelized before 
there should be a reaching out to " the uttermost 
part of the earth." The responsibility of the church 
has to do with the entire field. 

4. Equipment for the work 

It was an undertaking of stupendous magnitude. 
That little band of disciples was utterly unable to do 
this work of themselves. Hence the promise : " Ye 
shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come 
upon you." 

It is of the utmost importance that we have clear 
thinking upon this subject of the Holy Spirit. 



24 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

There are a few simple underlying principles which 
stand out clearly in connection with the beginnings 
which we are now studying. 

(i) The baptism of the Holy Spirit was his 
coming to abide with the church. Says Dr. A. J. 
Gordon : " The upper room became the Spirit's 
baptistery, if we may use the figure. His presence 
' filled all the house where they were sitting ; . . . 
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost/ The 
baptistery would never need to be refilled, for Pente- 
cost was once and for all, and the Spirit then came 
to abide in the church perpetually." What we need 
is not a baptism of the Spirit for that has been 
given, but a yielding of ourselves to the Spirit for 
the work he has come to perform. Rev. Ernest 
Boys makes this very pertinent declaration : " Being 
filled with the Spirit is not our having ' more of the 
Spirit/ but rather the Spirit having more of us." 

(2) This coming of the Spirit to abide in the 
church was for a definite purpose. He came to 
give power for the work of witnessing. This was 
the beginning of the gospel age — an age of glad 
tidings, a time for telling the wonderful truth con- 
cerning Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit came to 
equip the church for this work. He had wrought in 
the world from the first, but now the period of 
preparation was past, and he came as the abiding 
superintendent of the work of spreading the gospel 
throughout the entire world. 

(3) Observe further that the Holy Spirit works 



The Promise of the Father 25 

in and through God's people. " Ye shall receive 
power." There were some external manifestations 
on the day of Pentecost, but these were purely inci- 
dental. The power was in the disciples themselves. 
It was not some strange, magical power, but power 
to testify. Knowledge and moral courage are the 
two things particularly needed to make a good wit- 
ness. Jesus said : " Howbeit when he, the Spirit of 
truth is come, he shall guide you into all truth " 
(John 16 : 13), and also, " He shall bear witness 
of me" (John 15 : 26). Peter's sermon on the 
day of Pentecost showed a wonderful enlargement 
of vision and grasp of truth. The Holy Spirit had 
opened his understanding. Then too, observe his 
marvelous transformation in courage. The cow- 
ardly denier of his Lord had become the abso- 
lutely fearless preacher of the gospel. What he saw 
and believed he dared tell. He was clothed with 
power from on high for the supreme work of wit- 
nessing. The Holy Spirit is here for this specific 
work. We have no right to ask for or expect the 
Spirit's power unless we are ready to do the work of 
witnessing. He is to help us to have knowledge and 
courage to speak of Jesus Christ. " Make disciples 
of all the nations . . . and lo, I am with you." 

Quiz 

For what were the apostles to tarry in Jerusalem ? 
What is the supreme work of the church? Was 



26 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

there anything surprising in the extent of the work 
proposed ? Why are divisions of the work of world 
evangelism necessary? What are the departments 
of this work? Should the entire work be under- 
taken at the same time? What is the work of the 
Holy Spirit during this dispensation? How may 
we have the power of the Spirit? 

Suggested Topics 

The unity of humanity. 

The work of the Holy Spirit during the old 
dispensation. 

Are we to pray for the baptism of the Holy 
Spirit, or did it occur once for all on the day of 
Pentecost ? 

The day of the week on which Pentecost fell at 
this time. 



CHAPTER III 

THE INAUGURATION OF THE WORK 

The day of Pentecost marked the inauguration of 
the most significant movement of the ages. Long 
centuries of preparation culminated on that day. 
Christ's ministry, teaching, and sacrifice had looked 
forward to it. The Holy Spirit with power from on 
high had been promised by the risen Christ. The 
supreme work of the church had been set forth, and 
then Christ ascended to glory, and the disciples 
waited. Heaven waited too. Everything was pre- 
pared, and the inauguration day was fast approach- 
ing. It was peculiarly fitting that the great work 
of the church should begin on the day of Pentecost. 
It was known as the " day of First Fruits " ( Num. 
28 : 26), and "the feast of Harvest" (Exod. 23 : 
16). It stood midway between the sowing and 
preparation of spring-time and the ingathering of 
autumn. And so " when the day of Pentecost was 
now come " (Acts 2:1), the Holy Spirit descended 
with power and the church entered upon its great 
mission of making Christ known to a lost world. 
Several features of this day call for consideration. 

1. Those present at Jerusalem 

This feast, coming in the summer-time, was the 
most largely attended of any of the feasts of the 

27 



28 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

year. " From a census taken in the time of Nero, 
more than two million seven hundred thousand 
were gathered at the Passover, and still greater 
numbers came to Pentecost." And since the Jews 
were scattered everywhere throughout the civilized 
world, these came from all quarters. Hence we 
are not surprised that Luke declares : " Now there 
were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from 
every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5), and that 
then he goes on to enumerate at least fifteen differ- 
ent and widely separated cities and countries which 
had representatives at this feast. They little realized 
when they came up to this " feast of Harvest " that 
it would mark the beginning of the harvest work 
of the church of God, and that many of them would 
return to their homes rejoicing in the salvation of 
Jesus Christ. 

2. The coming of the Holy Spirit 

They had been waiting for ten days, and yet 
" suddenly " to these expectant souls there came the 
manifestations of the Spirit's presence. The sym- 
bolism under which he came is peculiarly sig- 
nificant: wind and fire. Pervasiveness and flame 
were his. 

( 1 ) There was first of all " a sound from heaven 
as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all 
the house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2). 
This sound was from heaven. They had seen 
Christ ascend and now they heard the descent of the 



The Inauguration of the Work 29 

Spirit. This comparison to the wind suggests sev- 
eral interesting features. 

a. It speaks of the mystery of the operations 
of the Spirit. Christ said to Nicodemus : " The 
wind bloweth where it willeth and thou hearest the 
voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh 
and whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of 
the Spirit" (John 3:8). 

b. Power is also suggested. It was as " the rush- 
ing of a mighty wind." The power of a tornado 
is irresistible. The promise in connection with the 
coming of the Spirit was the gift of power. In- 
stinctively they must have realized that the " power 
from on high " had come. 

c. Then too, there is emphasized the all-embra- 
cing, pervasive presence of the Spirit. All the house 
where they were sitting was filled. There was a 
presence as pure, as vital, as unseen, and yet as 
real as that of the very air they breathed. The 
Spirit had come to fill the church, and fill believers, 
yea, to fill the world with his presence and power. 

(2) Then there was the symbolism of fire: 
" There appeared unto them tongues parting 
asunder, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of 
them" (Acts 2:3). Two things are especially to 
be noted here : 

a. The form was that of tongues. The ordinary 
Greek word for the instrument of speech is here 
used. The Holy Spirit had been promised to give 
power for witnessing. The Lord said to Moses 



30 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

when he hesitated to obey the call to go to Egypt, 
and protested that he was " slow of speech " : "I 
will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou 
shalt speak" (Exod. 4 : 12). So now this tongue 
like as of fire sitting upon each one of them was the 
assurance of the Holy Spirit's presence with them 
to enable them to give the message of God to the 
people. 

b. They were tongues like as of fire. The word 
came to Moses out of a burning bush. Tongues of 
fire are needed to proclaim the truth of the gospel. 
It is said of Rowland Hill that " his words flowed 
hissing hot from his heart." The Holy Spirit's 
presence means zeal and energy, light and warmth. 
Coldness and formality are utterly foreign to the 
work of testifying for the Lord Jesus. 

3. The immediate effect upon the church 

"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit" 
(Acts 2:4). This evidently included the entire one 
hundred and twenty mentioned in the preceding 
chapter. Whenever the Holy Spirit is thus present 
filling his people, important results are sure to fol- 
low. What these results will be depends upon exist- 
ing conditions and needs. On this occasion there 
were two marked evidences in the church of the 
Spirit's presence. 

( 1 ) " They all began to speak with other tongues, 
as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). 
They did not speak in some strange gibberish that 



The Inauguration of the Work 31 

nobody could understand. But they spoke in the 
languages of those who were present, so that these 
peoples from all quarters were amazed and ex- 
claimed : " We hear them speaking in our tongues 
the mighty works of God " (Acts 2 : 11). This was 
not a promise of a continuous miracle of this char- 
acter in the spread of the gospel, for it did not con- 
tinue even in apostolic times, but it was rather a 
proclamation and a prophecy; a proclamation that 
the gospel was for all nations and tongues, and a 
prophecy that it should be preached in all the lan- 
guages of the earth. It was eminently fitting that 
just such a manifestation should occur at the begin- 
ning of the work. 

(2) " Then Peter, standing up with the eleven, 
lifted up his voice and spake forth unto them " 
(Acts 2 : 14). The miraculous manifestations 
ceased, the speaking with other tongues subsided, 
and the permanent work of witnessing began. A 
brief outline of Peter's sermon must suffice. 

As preliminary or introductory he earnestly de- 
nied the charge of drunkenness made against them 
(Acts 2 : 15), and then explained in general that 
what they saw that day was the fulfilment of the 
wonderful prophecy of Joel (Acts 2 : 16-21). 
Having thus prepared the way, he proceeded to 
prove to them that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they 
had crucified had been exalted of God as both Lord 
and Christ or Messiah (Acts 2 : 36). In establish- 
ing this he urged three lines of proof, a. " The 



32 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

mighty works and wonders and signs " which had 
been wrought by Jesus and with which they were 
perfectly familiar (Acts 2 : 22). b. The resurrec- 
tion of Christ from the dead. This was in accord- 
ance with prophecy (Acts 2 : 25-31), and ,was 
further established by the testimony of Peter and 
his associates who had seen the risen Lord (Acts 
2 : 32). And c. the exaltation of Christ resulting 
in the " pouring forth of this which ye see and 
hear" (Acts 2 : 33). 

And through all the argument there ran the 
thought : This is the person whom " ye by the hand 
of lawless men did crucify and slay " (Acts 2 : 23). 
It was a masterly argument peculiarly calculated to 
convince the intellect and lay hold upon the con- 
science of those who heard. 

4. The effect upon the multitudes 

The last evening that Jesus was with his disciples 
he said, speaking of the Comforter : "If I go I 
will send him unto you, and he, when he is come " 
that is unto you, " will convict the world in respect 
of sin and of righteousness and of judgment " 
(John 16 : 7, 8). He came unto his disciples in 
fulfilment of this promise, on the day of Pentecost. 
We have seen the result upon them; now note the 
effect upon the multitudes. " Now when they heard 
this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto 
Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what 
shall we do?" (Acts 2 : 37). Peter told them 



The Inauguration of the Work 33 

what to do and presented the forgiving mercy of 
God, and three thousand accepted the message of 
mercy and were baptized. And thus closed this 
wonderful day which marked the inauguration of 
the work of the church. 

Quiz 

Why was the day of Pentecost a specially fitting 
time for the inauguration of the work of the church ? 
Who were present at this feast? What two things 
symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit? In what 
ways were these peculiarly suitable? What sig- 
nificance attaches to the disciples' speaking with 
other tongues? What charge was made against 
them ? How did Peter reply to this charge ? What 
may be regarded as the topic of Peter's sermon? 
What three lines of argument did he urge? What 
had Christ said the Holy Spirit would do? What 
followed Peter's sermon? 

Suggested Topics 

The feast of Pentecost. 

The Jews, at this time, outside of Palestine. 
The Bible and the languages of the world. 
The Holy Spirit's work of convicting. 



CHAPTER IV 

GROWTH DURING THIS PERIOD 

The growth of Christianity may be regarded as 
either external or internal. The one has to do with 
numbers, territory, and influence; the other with 
life and doctrine, organization and worship. The 
latter will come up for subsequent study, the former 
will now receive our attention. 

i. Growth in numbers 

Christ made many disciples during his ministry. 
How many of these, outside of Jerusalem, remained 
faithful after the crucifixion we have no means of 
knowing. There must, however, have been a large 
number; and these doubtless greatly aided in the 
spread of the gospel later when work began to be 
prosecuted outside of the city. The company which 
came together in Jerusalem and waited for the 
promised baptism of the Holy Spirit numbered 
" about a hundred and twenty " (Acts I : 15). On 
the day of Pentecost three thousand were added to 
these (Acts 2 : 41). The work went on "and the 
Lord added to them day by day those that were 
saved" (Acts 2 : 47). A little later we read: 
" But many of them that heard believed the word, 
and the number of the men came to be about 
34 






Growth During this Period 35 

five thousand " (Acts 4:4). This count did not 
include the women, and probably was in addition 
to the three thousand already mentioned. Still the 
work grew : " And believers were the more added 
to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women " 
(Acts 5 : 14). Each new convert seems to have 
become an active propagator of the faith : " And 
the word of God increased and the number of 
the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; 
and a great company of the priests were obedient 
to the faith" (Acts 6:7). There seems to have 
been no abatement in the work, and again we 
read that the church " was multiplied" (Acts 9 : 
31), and finally it is declared: "The word of God 
grew and multiplied" (Acts 12 : 24). This record 
is full of interest. These numbers are given in no 
way to exalt man, but to magnify the truth and to 
glorify God. It is worthy of note that the numbers 
began with additions, but the work increased so 
rapidly that they soon passed over into multipli- 
cations. 

It is readily seen from these statements that at 
the end of this twelve-year period the number of 
Christians must have reached far up into the thou- 
sands. But, of course, anything like even an ap- 
proximate estimate of the total is impossible. 

2. The extent of this growth 

Until after the death of Stephen in a. d. 37 the 
growth of the church was confined almost wholly 



36 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

to Jerusalem. The thousands and the multitudes 
mentioned in the foregoing passages were prac- 
tically all in that city. Some undoubtedly were there 
only temporarily to attend the feast, and soon re- 
turned to their homes, and became witnesses for 
Christ wherever they went. No direct mention, 
however, is made of such work. But following the 
scattering of the church by the persecution which 
arose upon the death of Stephen many outlying 
localities were reached with the gospel. There was 
a gracious revival in Samaria, and many accepted 
the message brought to them by Philip (Acts 8 : 
5-13). Peter and John, in addition to the work 
done by Philip, " preached the gospel to many vil- 
lages of the Samaritans" (Acts 8 : 25). 

After the persecution ceased we are given a hint of 
how much the work had enlarged in the statement : 
" So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee 
and Samaria had peace, being edified; and walking 
in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the 
Holy Spirit, was multiplied " (Acts 9 : 31). 
About this time, for the purpose evidently of in- 
structing and helping, in every way possible, the 
disciples, Peter went " throughout all parts/' and 
came to Lydda and Joppa, where he found believers 
and many more were made (Acts 9 : 32-43). 

Work had been done at Damascus also, and Chris- 
tians had become so numerous in that city that 
Saul of Tarsus thought it worth while to go 
there with letters of authority from the high priest 



Growth During this Period 37 

in order that he might arrest them and bring them 
bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2). We also read 
of some who went " as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus 
and Antioch, speaking the word," and at the last- 
named place " the hand of the Lord was with them, 
and a great number that believed turned unto the 
Lord" (Acts 10 : 19-21). Undoubtedly in many 
other places, not mentioned by name, the gospel 
was preached during this period and converts were 
made. 

3. Growth in influence 

The church, as represented by the little company 
in the upper room, attracted no attention. No one 
was drawn to it, and no one thought it of sufficient 
importance to oppose it. The throngs, swept on by 
the currents of life on every side, were all unmind- 
ful of the prayers and expectations of that devoted 
band. 

During Christ's public ministry it was asked 
with a sneer by some of the leaders : " Hath any 
of the rulers believed on him or of the Pharisees? " 
So now nobody cared for these humble followers 
of a crucified Leader. But soon a great change 
took place. All classes were reached. Men of 
wealth, like Barnabas of Cyprus, sold their pos- 
sessions " and brought the money and laid it at the 
apostles' feet "(Acts 4: 36). Nothing, perhaps, could 
show the growing influence of the gospel more 
strikingly than the statement that " a great company 



38 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

of the priests were obedient to the faith " (Acts 
6:7). This meant that strong prejudices, selfish 
interests, and pride of position were overcome, 
and that many of those most difficult of access were 
reached and conquered by the truth. 

The growing influence of the church was seen 
also in the enemies it made and the opposition it 
encountered. A movement of no influence awakens 
no opposition. For the first six or seven years of 
his work in Burma Judson did not find it necessary 
to attempt to secure the favor of the king. His work 
seemed so unimportant that no one thought it worth 
while to oppose it. Thus it was with the church at 
first, but soon it began to grow, and its influence 
was felt and strong enemies arose. Listen to the 
roll call of dignitaries who assembled to pass judg- 
ment upon the apostles and stop their work : " Their 
rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together 
in Jerusalem ; Annas, the high priest was there, and 
Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many 
as were of the kindred of the high priest" (Acts 
4 : 5, 6). Surely this was an array of enemies 
which spoke much for the growing power of the 
church. 

Still another index of the growing influence of 
Christianity was the attitude of the multitudes of 
the people. Evidently the whole city was favorably 
impressed by what was being done. Speaking of 
the work wrought by the apostles following the 
judgment of God upon Ananias and Sapphira, it is 



Growth During this Period 39 

declared : " Howbeit, the people magnified them " 
(Acts 5 : 13). Before this the Sanhedrin would 
gladly have condemned Peter and John, but " they 
threatened them and let them go, finding nothing 
how they might punish them, because of the people " 
(Acts 4 : 21). There was murder in their hearts 
(Acts 5 : 33) and they would undoubtedly have 
condemned these men to death had it not been for 
their fear of the people. Later, when they sent 
officers to arrest the apostles and bring them for 
trial again, " they brought them, but without 
violence, for they feared the people lest they should 
be stoned" (Acts 5 : 26). 

Thus, from different quarters we find the evidence 
of the increasing power of the early church. It 
was an institution full of the forces of life, and it at 
once entered upon a period of remarkable, even 
marvelous, growth. 

Quiz 

State the two ways in which the growth of the 
church may be regarded. Which do we consider in 
this lesson ? How many were converted on the day 
of Pentecost? What was the subsequent increase? 
How many Christians were there at the end of this 
period? To what place was the growth restricted 
preceding the death of Stephen? What place was 
next reached? What evidence that Galilee had the 
gospel? What other places are mentioned? What 



40 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

influence had the church at first? State four evi- 
dences of the increasing influence of the church. 

Suggested Topics 

The matter of counting converts. 
Church statistics. 

The factors which contributed to the growth of 
the early church. 
Lay-preaching. 



CHAPTER V 

CONDITIONS WITHIN THE CHURCH 

While there is much of interest in the outward 
growth of the church during this period, the con- 
ditions within the church itself are still more inter- 
esting. 

The church did not spring into being fully organ- 
ized. It did not begin with creeds and rules and 
regulations already made. It began as a living 
organism, and developed under the guidance of the 
Holy Spirit. It took on the various aspects of 
church life and order as occasion demanded. 

i. Unity and brotherhood 

One of the most striking features of the life of the 
Jerusalem church was its beautiful spirit of unity. 
" When the day of Pentecost was now come they 
were all together in one place " (Acts 2:1). And 
before this, during the days in the upper room, 
it is declared : " These all with one accord continued 
steadfastly in prayer, with the women and Mary, the 
mother of Jesus, and with his brethren " (Acts 1 : 
14). Increasing numbers did not seem to interfere 
with this spirit of unity, for when thousands had 
been gathered in we read : " And the multitude of 
them that believed were of one heart and one soul " 

41 



42 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

(Acts 4 : 32). No wonder that it was a church of 
power and that multitudes were converted. This 
spirit of brotherhood led to a temporary communism 
in Jerusalem. " All that believed were together and 
had all things common. And they sold their posses- 
sions and goods and parted them to all according as 
any man had need" (Acts 2 : 44, 45). "And not 
one of them said that aught of the things which he 
possessed was his own, but they had all things 
common" (Acts 4 : 32). 

It is well carefully to note the principle involved 
in this communism, and the application made of it 
by these early Christians. The principle is a per- 
manent one, and may be stated as follows: The 
Christian should hold all that he has subject to 
the calls of Christ, and the needs of his church. He 
should not say that aught of the things which he 
possesses is his own. He is simply a steward to use 
all for the glory of God. 

The Jerusalem church, in applying this principle, 
adopted a community of goods. This seems to have 
been exceptional, as there is no intimation in the 
book of Acts or in the Epistles that any church 
outside of Jerusalem pursued a similar course. It 
seems too, to have been a purely voluntary matter, 
for Peter said to Ananias : " While it remained, did 
it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, 
was it not in thy power? " (Acts 5:4) 

There were at this time in Jerusalem exceptional 
conditions. Many of the converts were from outside 



Conditions Within the Church 43 

of the city, and disciples were multiplied very rap- 
idly. It was desirable that all should remain in 
Jerusalem for a time in order to become estab- 
lished in the new faith. Hundreds had to be cared 
for, and in the warmth of Christian zeal and the 
impulse of the new 7 spirit of brotherhood they gladly 
held all things in common and distributed to every 
one as he had need. In considering this phase of life 
in the Jerusalem church some have insisted that 
a mistake was made. But we should hesitate to 
make such a statement, since the course pursued 
seems to have had the full indorsement of the 
apostles and to have been adopted by a church 
filled with the Holy Spirit. It was a most striking 
method for setting in clear light the fundamental 
principle in the Christian life. 

2. Church government 

While very little is said during this period in 
reference to church organization, still it is not dif- 
ficult to discover certain principles which are far- 
reaching in their import. Christ had said : " Be 
not ye called rabbi, for one is your teacher and all 
ye are brethren. . . Neither be ye called masters, 
for one is your master, even the Christ" (Matt. 
23 : 8, 10). The apostles recognized this unity 
and equality of believers from the very first, and 
exercised no authority over the church. When the 
matter of a successor to Judas came up it was in 
the entire assembly of one hundred and twenty, and 



44 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Peter simply stated the case and " they/' the entire 
company, " put forward two " (Acts I : 15, 23), 
from whom the selection was made by lot. Peter 
and the other apostles assumed no prerogatives in 
this matter. 

When it became necessary to select some who 
should be specially charged with the distribution of 
funds in caring for the needy, " the twelve called 
the multitude of disciples unto them" (Acts 6:2) 
and urged them to select seven men to attend to this 
business, and they chose the men whom they thought 
suitable. And the apostles prayed for them and laid 
their hands upon them. We have here a clear recog- 
nition on the part of the apostles of the authority 
of the church to select its own servants. The ap- 
pointment of these seven men has been regarded by 
many as the beginning of the diaconate. But it must 
be noted that they are neither here nor elsewhere 
spoken of as deacons. Two of them, Stephen and 
Philip, were soon afterward preaching the word 
with power. Of the subsequent career of the others 
we know nothing. They were appointed for a 
special work which arose out of temporary condi- 
tions, and their appointment not only foreshadowed 
the diaconate, but the pastorate also; that is, when 
the church reached a place where it needed specially 
appointed servants or officers, it had the authority 
to appoint them. And a little later when it had- be- 
come so established as to need both pastors and 
deacons as permanent officers it was competent to 



Conditions Within the Church 45 

choose them and set them apart for their work. 
The appointing power was in the church. 

Another question arises : Was the church one 
organic body, embracing all believers, or were there 
many churches, each in a measure independent 
of the others? In Acts 9 : 31 we read: " So the 
church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Sa- 
maria had peace. " The best authorities are agreed 
that we should read " church " here instead of 
" churches " as in the old version. But the word 
" church " is used elsewhere in a general sense 
without reference to organization or local habita- 
tion. (Note, for example, Phil 3:6; Eph. 1 : 22, 
23; Heb. 12 : 23.) Some have urged that there 
was at this time only the one church but scattered 
throughout Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. But this 
will not do. For we learn elsewhere that at the same 
time that this general term " church " was employed 
local churches were in existence. In writing of his 
first visit to Jerusalem, which occurred at the very 
time above referred to, when the church was enjoy- 
ing peace, Paul says : " x\nd I was still unknown by 
face unto the churches of Judea which were in 
Christ" (Gal. 1 : 22). This plainly implies that as 
the gospel had spread throughout Judea, churches 
had been organized. And doubtless the same thing 
had taken place in Samaria and Galilee. A little 
later we have abundant evidence that wherever Paul 
went he established churches. It is reasonable to 
suppose that these local separate churches were con- 



46 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

stituted upon the general plan of the Jerusalem 
church, in which the fundamental principles were 
the headship of Jesus Christ and the unity and 
equality of the brethren. 

3. The worship of the church 

For a time the Christians continued in the temple 
worship. They continued steadfastly " with one ac- 
cord in the temple " (Acts 2 : 36). " Peter and John 
were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer " 
(Acts 3:1). How fully they entered into the 
temple service we are unable to say. But they must 
from the first have viewed the sacrifices and cere- 
monials in a new light. Redemption was in Christ 
and not in these. Aside from the temple worship 
" they continued in breaking bread at home " and 
" in the prayers." There was a distinctively Chris- 
tian worship from the first. The following features 
of worship were apparent. 

(1) There was no bondage to place. In the 
upper room, at their homes, wherever there were 
devout hearts there was a place of worship. 

(2) Spirit and not form was the essential thing. 
There was manifestly no ritual and there were no 
prescribed forms, but the expressions of faith and 
love were of the most simple and direct character. 

(3) Prayer was central in their worship. Before 
the day of Pentecost the disciples were together for 
prayer. After that memorable day they continued 
steadfastly "in the prayers" (Acts 2 : 42). When 



Conditions Within the Church 47 

persecution arose they met in prayer and continued 
until the place where they were assembled was 
shaken. It was in a prayer meeting in the home 
of Mary, the mother of Mark, that Peter found the 
church gathered when he was miraculously delivered 
from prison (Acts 12 : 12). A constant danger to 
the church to-day is that too small a place is given 
to prayer. 

(4) The social element in worship was recog- 
nized. We catch a glimpse of private devotion in 
the case of Peter on the housetop at the home of 
Simon, the tanner, in Joppa. There must always be 
much private worship if the church is to be strong. 
But there must also be the gathering together 
for worship. " And they " — the body of believers — 
" continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and 
fellowship, in breaking of bread and the prayers " 
(Acts 2 : 42). They came together to be taught 
and to enjoy a blessed fellowship with each other 
and with Jesus Christ in the simple service of the 
Lord's Supper. Their worship throughout was 
marked by a beautiful simplicity, freedom, sincerity, 
and spirituality. 

Quiz 

Viewed as an organization, how did the church 
begin? What is said of the unity of the early 
church? What principle was involved in the com- 
munism of the church? Why did the church adopt 
communism? Was a mistake made? Was it an 



48 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

example for other churches? In what ways did 
the apostles recognize the authority of the church? 
Were the seven chosen by the church, deacons? 
What evidence is there that local churches were 
organized outside of Jerusalem? Why did the 
Christians continue in the temple worship? What 
were the essentials of the worship of the early 
church ? 

Suggested Topics 

Christian socialism. 
Ritualism in worship. 

Different uses of the word " church " in the New 
Testament. 

The essentials in Christian unity. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE ORDINANCES 

We are in the habit of speaking of baptism and the 
Lord's Supper as the ordinances of the church. It 
may be well to call attention to the fact that they 
are never so designated in the Scriptures. I Cor. 
11:2, " And keep the ordinances as I delivered 
them unto you," has sometimes been quoted as 
referring to baptism and the Lord's Supper. But 
the word here rendered ordinances is correctly 
translated traditions in the Revised version. 

Since, however, the word ordinance in the Old 
Testament frequently refers to statutes dealing with 
forms and ritual observances, it may not inap- 
propriately be used to designate the rites connected 
with the church of the New Testament. It is far 
better than the word sacrament, which is not a 
biblical word at all, and which by wrong usage and 
teaching has come to associate with baptism and 
the Lord's Supper views of grace and of ecclesias- 
tical authority which are utterly foreign to the plain 
and simple teachings of the New Testament. 

1. Baptism during this early period 

The apostles were fresh from the instruction of 
Jesus, and eager to carry out his commands. Cen- 
D 49 



50 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

tral in the Great Commission (Matt. 28 : 19, 20) 
which he had given them was the command to bap- 
tize those who became disciples. Hence, we are not 
surprised on the day of Pentecost when the hearers 
" were pricked in their heart " and cried " Brethren, 
what shall we do ? " that Peter promptly replied : 
" Repent ye, and be baptized, every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your 
sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit " 
(Acts 2 : 38). 

While there are not many allusions to baptism 
during the period which we are now studying, still 
there are sufficient to make clear the practices of 
the apostles and others during this time. The fol- 
lowing conclusions are manifestly deducible from 
these early narratives : 

(1) A personal acceptance of Christ preceded 
baptism. 

Peter urged the convicted multitude to repent 
first and then be baptized. And then we read: 
" They, then, that received his word were bap- 
tized " (Acts 2 : 41). The next mention of baptism 
is in connection with the work in Samaria : " When 
they believed Philip preaching good tidings con- 
cerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus 
Christ they were baptized, both men and women " 
(Acts 8 : 12). The eunuch accepted the message 
preached to him by Philip, and then said : " Behold, 
here is water, what doth hinder me to be bap- 
tized?" (Acts 8 : 36). Cornelius and those with 



The Ordinances 51 



him heard the gospel from Peter and received 
the gift of the Holy Spirit and were then baptized 
(Acts 10 : 46-48). And Saul of Tarsus fully sur- 
rendered all to Christ and then " he arose and was 
baptized" (Acts 9 : 18). 

(2) Infant baptism was unknown during this 
period. 

Many learned authorities could be quoted in con- 
firmation of this statement, but we are now con- 
cerned particularly with the Scripture narrative. 
Had infant baptism been practised during this time 
there certainly would have been some allusion to it. 
This was a time of beginnings and foundation 
laying, and a matter of such fundamental import 
as infant baptism would not have escaped mention 
had later ideas then prevailed. While we must 
reason cautiously from the silences of Scripture, 
yet sometimes these silences are very suggestive. 
In the case of those baptized in Samaria it is stated 
that they were "both men and women" (Acts 8 : 
12). Surely the failure to speak of infants here — for 
there must have been many of them in Samaria — 
is profoundly significant. It is true that on the day 
of Pentecost Peter declared : " To you is the 
promise, and to your children, and to all that are 
afar ofif " (Acts 2 : 39) . It does not read : " To your 
little ones," but " to your children," meaning, as 
the word does very frequently in the plural — de- 
scendants. (See Matt. 3:9; Rom. 9:7; Gal. 
4 : 31.) Peter had in mind the scope of Christ's 



52 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

parting words and said in substance : " The prom- 
ise is for the Jews, for you who hear, and for all 
your descendants, and not for you only, but also for 
all the nations who are afar off." It is too bad to 
mar such a passage with the baptismal controversy. 

(3) Baptism followed very promptly the accept- 
ance of Christ. 

Those converted in the day of Pentecost were 
baptized at once. The Ethiopian received the mes- 
sage as he rode in his chariot and stopped and was 
baptized in a wayside pool. Ananias said to Saul 
of Tarsus : " Why tarriest thou ? Arise and be bap- 
tized " (Acts 22 : 16). It is quite possible that with 
Christianity established and popular, we need to 
exercise more caution lest unsaved persons come 
into the church, but we would conform more nearly 
to New Testament practices if conversion and bap- 
tism were brought closer together than is cus- 
tomary. 

(4) Baptism was closely associated with the re- 
mission of sins. 

On the day of Pentecost Peter said to those who 
wanted to know what to do : " Repent ye, and be 
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 
unto the remission of your sins ; and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Spirit " (Acts 2 : 38). And 
Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus : " Arise and be 
baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his 
name" (Acts 22 : 16). From these passages some 
have practised " baptism for the remission of sins," 



The Ordinances 53 



insisting that baptism is essential to salvation. But 
note carefully three facts : a. Salvation was presented 
as wholly of Christ. " And in none other is there 
salvation ; for neither is there any other name under 
heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must 
be saved" (Acts 4 : 12). Again, Peter stated the 
matter very clearly in the house of Cornelius : " In 
his name every one that believeth on him shall re- 
ceive remission of sins" (Acts 10 : 43). And at 
once when they believed and before they were bap- 
tized the Holy Spirit fell upon them. It is impos- 
sible to believe that the Holy Spirit was bestowed 
before they were forgiven, b. Baptism was evidently 
then as it is now, especially in heathen lands, a 
peculiar test and confession of faith in Christ. To 
refuse to be baptized was an evidence of lack of 
saving faith, hence this ordinance was very closely 
associated with the blessings obtained through faith 
in Christ, c. No careful separation was made be- 
tween the symbol and the thing symbolized. " The 
blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin"(i 
John 1:7). The cleansing is wholly of Christ, but 
the baptism is the striking symbol of that cleansing, 
hence the words of Ananias, " and wash away thy 
sins." It is doubtless true that in our opposition to 
the wretched heresy of baptismal regeneration some 
among us have failed to give to this ordinance its 
New Testament place and emphasis. 

(5) The act of baptism was immersion. 

Since the word baptism is transferred from the 



54 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Greek rather than translated, and means immersion, 
as practically all Greek scholars are now agreed, 
it is not surprising that instances of baptism occur 
where no reference is made to the act further than 
is found in the word itself. If the word were 
translated we would read : " Then they that re- 
ceived his word were immersed/' which would be 
explanation sufficient. But as if to guard against 
the possibility of mistake there is given a detailed 
account of one baptism. It is a word picture of the 
entire transaction : " Behold, here is water ; what 
doth hinder me to be baptized ? And he commanded 
the chariot to stand still, and they both went down 
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he 
baptized him. And when they came up out of the 
water the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip " 
(Acts 8 : 36-39). 

The following arguments against immersion have 
been urged in connection with these early events: 
It has been insisted that there were no suitable 
places for immersion in the city of Jerusalem; and 
had there been, it has been claimed that three 
thousand could not have been immersed in a single 
day. It hardly needs to be stated at the present 
time that Jerusalem abounded in pools and baths and 
reservoirs which were admirably adapted to the 
purpose of immersion. The incident in Ongole, 
India, where six ministers — only two of them work- 
ing at a time — baptized in nine hours two thousand 
two hundred and twenty-two, is very familiar, and 



The Ordinances 55 



demonstrates how easily the three thousand could 
have been immersed on the day of Pentecost. It 
is also urged that the baptism of the Spirit on that 
day was, as Peter quotes from Joel, a pouring forth 
(Acts 2 : 17). Therefore the water baptism should 
be a pouring. But observe carefully the promise: 
" John, indeed, baptized with water, but ye shall be 
baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence " 
(Acts 1 : 5). They knew that John's baptism was an 
immersion, an enveloping in water, and it was now 
declared that they would soon " be baptized in the 
Holy Spirit." Note with care the fulfilment. On 
the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was " poured 
forth " until his presence, which was audibly 
recognized, " filled all the house where they were 
sitting" (Acts 2:2), and they were baptized in 
the Holy Spirit. Thus, the baptism of the Spirit, 
instead of being an argument against immersion, is 
strikingly conclusive in its favor. 

2. The Lord's Supper 

At the " Last Supper " in the upper room Christ 
instituted a special memorial service. He said : 
" This do in remembrance of me " (Luke 22 : 19). 
Two facts are to be particularly noted in connec- 
tion with the instituting of this supper. ( 1 ) It was 
not a regular meal, but followed the eating of the 
Passover supper. This is apparent from the gospel 
narratives. And so when Paul speaks of it ( 1 Cor. 
11 : 25) he says that "after supper" Christ took 



56 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

the bread and the cup. This is important, as some 
have supposed that the early Christians identified 
the Lord's Supper with a common meal. (2) The 
second fact is the prominence given to the " break- 
ing of bread " in the institution of the ordinance. 
(See Matt. 26 : 26; Mark 14 : 22 ; Luke 22 : 19.) 
This act is made so prominent that it is not sur- 
prising that this expression, " breaking of bread," 
came later to be a name for the service. (Acts 
20 : 11; 1 Cor. 10 : 16; 11 : 24.) The events of 
that evening when Christ instituted the Supper 
were still fresh in the minds of the apostles when 
they entered upon the work of instructing the new- 
made converts. Of these we read : " They con- 
tinued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fel- 
lowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers " 
(Acts 2 : 42). In reference to the "breaking of 
bread " undoubtedly Peter and his colaborers did 
what Paul declared he did : " But I received of the 
Lord that which I also delivered unto you " ( 1 Cor. 
11 : 23). This was a distinctively Christian serv- 
ice, and so while they participated in the temple 
worship they continued " breaking bread at home " 
(Acts 2 : 46). Had this been simply an ordinary 
meal at home such mention of it would have been 
wholly unnecessary. They were observing what the 
apostles had taught them. The place of this observ- 
ance was naturally in their homes where Christian 
worship began. The frequency of this service is not 
indicated. But evidently from the first the Chris- 



The Ordinances 57 



tians, instructed by the apostles, observed a simple 
memorial service called the " breaking of bread," 
and later " The Lord's Supper " (1 Cor. 11 : 20). 

+ + + 
Quiz 

What is said of the use of the words " ordinance " 
and " sacrament " ? 

What was Peter's command to the multitude on 
the day of Pentecost? 

What evidence is there that faith always preceded 
baptism ? 

What is the evidence that infant baptism was not 
practised at this time? 

How promptly did baptism follow conversion? 

Was baptism made a saving ordinance? 

State the evidence that baptism was immersion. 

What objections are raised? How are they met? 

When and by whom was the Lord's Supper 
instituted ? 

What reason for believing that this Supper was 
not a regular meal? 

What evidence that it was observed from the first ? 

Suggested Topics 

Present customs in observing the Lord's Supper. 
The extent to which immersion is now practised. 
A brief history of infant baptism. 
The Greek words for pour, sprinkle, and immerse. 
What led to sprinkling and pouring for baptism? 



CHAPTER VII 

THE CONFLICT WITH JUDAISM 

With the crucifixion of Jesus the Jews evidently 
thought that their trouble from that quarter was 
ended, so that they were entirely unprepared for the 
extraordinary outbreak on the day of Pentecost. At 
first the leaders seem to have been bewildered and 
to have made no attempt to oppose the work of the 
apostles, but this soon passed and they resorted to 
strenuous measures to prevent the spread of the 
gospel. The Sadducees seem to have led in this 
opposition, but as the entire Sanhedrin was soon 
involved the Pharisees must also have joined in. In 
fact, there were essentially the same spirit and 
agencies present that had brought about the con- 
demnation and crucifixion of Jesus. 

i. The first opposition 

The healing of the lame man " at the door of the 
temple called Beautiful " (Acts 3 : 7, 8) must have 
occurred not long after the day of Pentecost. This 
notable miracle brought together throngs of people 
to whom Peter preached with great earnestness and 
directness, charging them and their rulers with 
killing the " Prince of Life " (Acts 3 : 14). These 
were bold words, calculated to stir the consciences 

58 



The Conflict with Judaism 59 

or the anger of those who heard them. The report 
was quickly taken to those in authority, and before 
Peter's sermon was done he and John were arrested. 
It is well to note carefully the statements made in 
this connection as they disclose the beginning of the 
opposition. " As they spake unto the people, the 
priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sad- 
ducees came upon them, being sore troubled because 
they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the 
resurrection from the dead " (Acts 4 : 1, 2). 
There were two complaints against them: 

( 1 ) " They taught the people." These unlettered 
Galilean fishermen were setting themselves up to 
teach the people, and multitudes were thronging to 
hear them, and many were believing what they 
taught. This, of course, was regarded as the 
height of presumption, and as an affront to the 
regularly constituted leaders and teachers of the 
people. 

(2) " They proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection 
from the dead." This doctrine was peculiarly hate- 
ful to the Sadducees, who did not believe in any 
resurrection of the dead, and as it was based upon 
the resurrection of Jesus, it was distasteful to the 
leaders among the Pharisees also. 

Peter and John were arrested and put in prison 
until the next day when they were tried by what was 
evidently the Sanhedrin (Acts 4: 5, 6). Peter made 
the most of the occasion by again fearlessly preach- 
ing Christ to them. The boldness of Peter and 



60 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

John (Acts 4 : 13), the presence of the man who 
had been healed (Acts 4 : 14), and the attitude of 
the people (Acts 4 : 21) rendered the officials 
cautious, and they discharged Peter and John with 
the command that they speak and teach no more in 
the name of Jesus, threatening them with severe 
punishment should they disobey. They replied: 
" Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken 
unto you rather than unto God, judge ye; for we 
cannot but speak the things which we saw and 
heard" (Acts 4 : 19, 20). 

2. The second outbreak of persecution 

Regardless of the threats of the Jewish authorities 
the apostles went on with their work of teaching and 
preaching, and many converts were made. Ananias 
and Sapphira sought honor in the church through 
deceit and lying, and the summary judgment of God 
fell upon them. Following this there was a period 
of peculiar manifestation of the divine power. " And 
believers were the more added to the Lord, multi- 
tudes both of men and women " (Acts 5 : 14), and 
the apostles, apparently all of them this time, were 
arrested. Observe the following facts in connection 
with this arrest. 

(1) The public charge brought against the 
apostles was really violation of parole. " We strictly 
charged you not to teach in this name ; and behold, 
you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching " 
(Acts 5 : 28). The apostles had refused to obey 



The Conflict with Judaism 61 

their commands and recognize their authority, and 
so of course there was nothing for them to do but 
to arrest them. 

(2) But there were at least two other causes for 
this arrest. " They were filled with jealousy " 
(Acts 5 : 17). The multitudes were following these 
new teachers, and what these Jewish leaders re- 
garded as their rights and prerogatives were being 
utterly ignored. Then too, there was a grave side 
to the matter which was fraught with very serious 
possibilities : " Ye intend to bring this man's blood 
upon us " (Acts 5 : 28). And so they proposed to 
stop this work if possible. 

(3) The outcome. The apostles were thrown 
into prison, but an angel of God opened the prison 
doors and commanded them to go on with their 
work. Brought again before the Sanhedrin, Peter 
declared : " We must obey God rather than men." 
The spirit of murder was in the hearts of the perse- 
cutors, but they feared the people. Then the learned 
Gamaliel counseled them that if this work were not 
of God it would be overthrown, but if it were of 
God they could not overthrow it. Not daring to 
adopt the extreme measures to which their jealousy 
and hatred prompted them, they agreed with Ga- 
maliel " and when they had called the apostles unto 
them they beat them and charged them not to speak 
in the name of Jesus" (Acts 5 : 40). But again 
they went out disregarding the commands and 
threats of Jewish officials " and every day, in the 



62 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to 
preach Jesus as the Christ." 

3. The stoning of Stephen 

The Gamaliel policy seems to have prevailed for 
several years, during which time there was a marked 
advance in the apprehension of the essential relation 
of the gospel to Jewish institutions. Stephen, one 
of the seven, " a man full of faith and the Holy 
Spirit " (Acts 6:5), became a preacher of pro- 
found insight into the truth and of great effective- 
ness as a speaker. " They were not able to with- 
stand the wisdom and the spirit with which he 
spake." He was arrested, made a masterly defense 
which so enraged his persecutors that they dragged 
him out of the city and stoned him. Two specific 
charges were made against Stephen (Acts 6 : 13). 
These were quite different from those made against 
the apostles some three or four years earlier. 

( 1 ) He was charged with speaking against " this 
holy place," the temple, and (2) against " the law " 
of Moses. Those who testified against him were 
" false witnesses." Undoubtedly the spirit and form 
of their testimony was false. He was not guilty 
of " blasphemous words," as charged, but unques- 
tionably the Christians were more and more regard- 
ing the temple service and the Mosaic law from an 
entirely different point of view from that held by 
the Jews. Christ was the fulfilment of the sacrifices 
and of the law, and salvation was wholly in him. 



The Conflict with Judaism 63 

The conceptions held were so radically different that 
the conflict at these points was inevitable, and 
Jews and Christians must separate. The stoning of 
Stephen was the outburst of a storm which had been 
long gathering. 

4. Persecution following the death of Stephen 

Stephen was stoned by a mob. The reason why 
the Roman authorities paid no attention to this, and 
also why the Jews were allowed to go on in such 
a high-handed way with their persecutions, was 
doubtless due to the fact that at this time Pilate had 
gone to Rome to answer charges against him. Ca- 
ligula was just succeeding Tiberius upon the throne, 
and Judea was left for some time practically without 
any Roman ruler. 

The stoning of Stephen was the beginning of a 
great persecution against the church at Jerusalem 
(Acts 8:1). There were several important fea- 
tures of this persecution. 

(1) It had a vigorous leader. Saul of Tarsus 
was present at the death of Stephen. He imbibed 
the spirit of the occasion and at once threw him- 
self into the work of persecution and " laid waste the 
church, entering into every house, and dragging 
men and women committed them to prison " (Acts 

8: 3)- 

(2) It aimed at the suppression of Christianity. 
Evidently Saul conceived the idea of carrying his 
work into surrounding cities and so to punish and 



64 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

terrify Christians that this new movement would 
cease. 

(3) The opposition was evidently against the 
essential teachings of the gospel. Saul set out to 
Damascus to find those of " The Way " (Acts 
9:2). The gospel was " the way " that superseded 
the teaching of the temple and of the law, and filled 
the leaders of the Jews with unspeakable hatred and 
the spirit of determined opposition. 

(4) Two things of profound importance resulted 
from this persecution. The church at Jerusalem was 
scattered (Acts 8:1) and Saul of Tarsus was con- 
verted (Acts 9 : 17, 18). 

The persecutions by the Jews, instead of hinder- 
ing the gospel, rather fired the disciples with 
increased zeal, brought out into clearer light the 
essential truths of Christianity, and scattered the 
disciples to become preachers of the faith wherever 
they went. 

+ + + 
Quiz 

What was the feeling of the Jews following the 
crucifixion of Jesus? 

What was the occasion of the first outbreak of 
opposition ? 

What two complaints were made against Peter 
and John ? 

What was the outcome of this first trial? 

Who were arrested at the second outbreak? 

What were the causes of this trouble? 



The Conflict with Judaism 65 

What counsel did Gamaliel give, and why was it 
accepted ? 

How much time elasped before the third out- 
break? 

Who was Stephen? 

What charges were brought against him? 

State the leading features of the persecution fol- 
lowing the stoning of Stephen. 

What two very important events came out of this 
persecution ? 

Suggested Topics 

The Sanhedrin. 

The Jewish idea of salvation. 

Sketch of Gamaliel's life. 

Conditions and changes at Rome about this time. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE BEGINNING OF ENLARGEMENT 

Doubtless many of those converted in Jerusalem 
returned to their homes, but not until after the mar- 
tyrdom of Stephen is there a record of any work of 
preaching outside of Jerusalem. We then read: 
" They therefore that were scattered abroad went 
about preaching the word " (Acts 8:4). How far 
this work at first extended we may judge from the 
statement that " they were all scattered abroad 
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, ex- 
cept the apostles" (Acts 8:1). 

In the eighth chapter of Acts two instances are 
cited where those not Jews were reached with the 
gospel, the one at Samaria, and the other " on the 
way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 
In both instances it is interesting to note that the 
preacher was " one of the seven," and that he bore 
a Greek name, Philip ; and later was known as " the 
evangelist" (Acts 21 : 8). He must not be con- 
fused with the apostle who had the same name. 

1. The work of grace in Samaria 

Christ preached in a city of Samaria and many of 
the Samaritans believed on him (John 4 : 39). And 
it was to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well 
66 



The Beginning of Enlargement 67 

that he made the first recorded declaration of his 
Messiahship. He also said to his apostles that they 
should be his witnesses " in all Judea and Samaria." 
Thus, it seems to have been the purpose of Christ 
that Samaria should be the first place outside of 
Judea to receive the gospel. Since the Samaritans 
were a mixed people, having both Jewish and Gentile 
blood, it was fitting that they should be the first to 
whom the gospel should be preached as the church 
began to reach out in its larger mission. 

Several features of this work in Samaria, viewed 
in its relation to this particular stage in the develop- 
ment of Christianity, call for consideration, 

(1) The method of work. 

It was very direct and simple. Philip " pro- 
claimed unto them the Christ/' This preaching of 
Christ was the first and central thing. All else was 
merely incidental. Demons were cast out, the 
palsied and lame were healed, and the people were 
attracted by these things ; but it was the message 
which was brought to them that was vital. Hence 
we read : " When they believed Philip preaching 
good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and 
the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both 
men and women" (Acts 8 : 12). Philip did not 
place the emphasis upon the work of healing nor 
upon any mere temporal blessings, but he preached 
salvation through Jesus Christ. He was faithful to 
the supreme work of witnessing for Christ. 

(2) The visit of Peter and John. 



68 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

When word reached the apostles in Jerusalem of 
the work in Samaria they at once " sent unto them 
Peter and John." The purpose of this action is not 
stated, but the fact that the two leading men of their 
number were selected is evidence that the mission 
was regarded as one of much importance. There 
doubtless was, in the minds of some, a question 
whether the gospel should be preached directly to 
the Samaritans. But they must have remembered 
the work of Jesus there, and his parting instructions 
to them. And so Peter and John must have gone 
with open minds to investigate the situation. 

They found a genuine work of grace in progress, 
and " great joy in that city." But there were some 
things requiring their attention. First of all, the 
Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon the converts; 
therefore they prayed for them, laid their hands upon 
them, and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8 : 
15-17). It is probable, from statements elsewhere 
made, that this giving of the Holy Spirit in answer 
to the prayers of the apostles was accompanied with 
special miraculous manifestations (Acts 10 : 44-46; 
19 : 6; 2 : 4). We naturally pause to ask, Are we 
warranted in looking for such manifestations at the 
present time ? Two considerations have a very im- 
portant bearing upon this inquiry. 

a. Such manifestations seem to have been excep- 
tional even in apostolic times. There is no evidence 
that the speaking with " other tongues " continued 
in the Jerusalem church after the day of Pentecost. 



The Beginning of Enlargement 69 

There was a special gift of the Spirit on the day 
of Pentecost — when the gospel was proclaimed to 
the Jews. There was another special gift when the 
gospel was preached to the Samaritans, and still 
another when Peter took the message to the Gentile 
Cornelius. There seems to have been a kind of 
initiative manifestation of the Spirit which subsided 
as the work went on, not that the work of the Spirit 
in any sense diminished, but the exceptional gave 
place to the normal and central work of giving 
power for witnessing. 

b. The apostles had no official successors. They 
occupied a unique position in the inauguration of the 
work of the church. There is no intimation that 
the special gift of the Spirit issuing in miraculous 
works was ever bestowed by the laying-on of any 
but apostolic hands. They exercised a supervision 
over the churches and possessed authority which be- 
longed to their peculiar position in relation to Christ 
and the inception of the work of the kingdom, and 
which from the very nature of the case could be 
transferred to no successors. 

Another matter received the attention of the 
apostles. The church had received an unworthy 
man into its membership. Simon Magus, " half dupe 
and half impostor," thought " to obtain the gift of 
God with money." At Jerusalem the judgment of 
God upon Ananias and Sapphira was an awful warn- 
ing against lying and hypocrisy in the church. So 
now at Samaria, at the beginning of the work there, 



yo The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Peter's terrible rebuke of this man who would traffic 
in holy things was a perpetual warning against the 
sin of " Simony." The Lord looketh upon the heart 
and he wants in his church only such as have been 
renewed in the spirit of their minds. 

2. The conversion of the Ethiopian 

While this man was undoubtedly a Gentile, the 
fact that he had been to Jerusalem to worship, and 
that he was reading the prophecy of Isaiah, would 
indicate that he was a Jewish proselyte. In our 
study at this time we are not concerned with all the 
interesting details of this conversion, but with those 
features which bear more or less directly upon the 
work of the enlargement of Christianity. 

(i) Special providential factors. 

God had begotten in the heart of this Ethiopian 
a desire for better things. This had led him into 
the outer courts of Judaism. But he was not yet 
satisfied, and in the wonderful Messianic proph- 
ecies of Isaiah he was searching for still better 
things. God is at work in the hearts of those who 
are afar off, creating a longing for the truths of 
the gospel. Philip, the servant of Christ, left the 
work at Samaria, and under the guidance of the 
Spirit came, with the message of life, to this man. 
Those who are led by the Spirit will find open doors 
and prepared hearts. 

(2) Personal work. 

In Samaria Philip preached to the multitudes, but 



The Beginning of Enlargement yi 

here he taught one man. Jesus adopted both meth- 
ods of work. Whenever the church has wrought 
with peculiar vigor and effectiveness it has given 
large place to the work of " individuals for individ- 
uals." 

(3) Thoroughness characterized Philip's work. 

He evidently taught this man with great faith- 
fulness and then pressed the matter of immediate 
decision and action. He began with the passage in 
Isaiah which the man was reading and preached 
unto him Jesus. This preaching of Jesus included 
not only the necessity of belief in Christ, but also 
of confession in baptism, and that without delay. 
Too often our teaching is inadequate, and we fail 
too, in leading men to decision. Here were two men 
whose paths crossed once, and in all probability 
would never do so again. Philip appreciated the im- 
portance of thorough and decisive work, and the 
result was a man saved and sent on his way re- 
joicing. And more than that, this man was an in- 
fluential representative of the powerful Candace, 
queen of the Ethiopians; and if we may trust the 
historian Eusebius, he became the founder of Chris- 
tianity in Ethiopia and also in Arabia Felix. 

Quiz 

Was there any work done outside of Jerusalem 
before the martyrdom of Stephen? What took 
place immediately following that event? Who was 



J2, The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Philip? Who were the Samaritans? What feature 
of his work did Philip make prominent? Why did 
Peter and John visit Samaria? What resulted from 
the laying of their hands upon the converts? Why 
are we at the present time not warranted in looking 
for miraculous gifts in connection with the receiving 
of the Holy Spirit? Who was Simon Magus, and 
what is the sin of Simony? Why did Philip leave 
the work in Samaria? What were the providential 
factors in the conversion of the Ethiopian? In 
what way do workers often fail ? 

Suggested Topics 

The Samaritans as a people. 

Sorcery. 

" Speaking with tongues/' 

Was the Ethiopian a Negro ? 



CHAPTER IX 

THE FIRST GENTILE CONVERTS 

The first clearly defined instance of direct work for 
the Gentiles is the preaching by Peter to the Roman 
centurion Cornelius, together with " his kinsmen 
and near friends/' at Caesarea (Acts 10 : 1-48). It 
is probable that the Ethiopian to whom Philip 
preached was a Gentile, but also a Jewish proselyte. 
While the Samaritans were not regarded as Jews, 
neither were they looked upon as being Gentiles. In 
his statement, years afterward, at the Jerusalem 
conference, Peter evidently claimed that this case 
of Cornelius was the beginning of the work of the 
gospel among the Gentiles. He said : " Brethren, 
ye know that a good while ago God made choice 
among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should 
hear the word of the gospel and believe " (Acts 

15 : 7). 

This new departure was profoundly significant, 
and several features of it call for careful consider- 
ation. 

1. All need the gospel 

It is an interesting fact that this first Gentile to 
receive the gospel was one of the best rather than 
one of the worst. He was " a devout man and one 

73 



74 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

that feared God with all his house, who gave much 
alms to the people" (Acts 10 : i, 2). We can 
readily think of him as belonging to the best class 
of Romans. He had doubtless sought satisfaction 
in the Roman religion, and in Greek philosophy; 
and, with hunger of soul unsatisfied, he had turned 
to the God of the Jews. And yet this man needed 
the gospel ; and if he needed it, how much greater is 
the need of the masses of the Gentile world ? There 
are those to-day who insist that the heathen do not 
need the gospel. They have their own religions, 
customs, and ideals which, it is urged, are better 
adapted to their condition than anything our re- 
ligion can bring to them. Therefore let them alone. 
But if Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, needed 
the gospel, there is nowhere upon the face of the 
earth a Gentile who does not need the same message 
of life. 

2. An obstacle in the way 

The command of Christ was to make disciples of 
all the nations. Some eight years had passed and 
nothing had yet been done to reach the Gentile 
world. The trouble was not in the gospel, for that 
was adapted to the needs of all. The difficulty was 
not in the Gentiles, for not a few of them, like Cor- 
nelius, were ready to receive the message, recog- 
nizing their need. 

The hindrance was in the church itself. This 
has often been the case. Carey and his coworkers, 



The First Gentile Converts 75 

standing at the beginning of modern missions, met 
with opposition from the churches, on every side. 
So learned a man as Sydney Smith referred to their 
plans as : " The dreams of a dreamer who dreams 
he has been dreaming." To-day the greatest ob- 
stacles to the world's evangelization are within the 
churches themselves. Jewish narrowness and 
prejudice was the difficulty which stood in the way 
of the early church. While the Jews regarded it as 
unlawful to mingle socially and eat with the Gentiles, 
there was no express Mosaic command against this. 
But tradition and custom were so strong that the 
early Christians were very slow to grasp the truth 
of the essential equality of all men before God, and 
at first they evidently believed that while the gospel 
was for all men, they must become Jewish proselytes 
before becoming Christians. In Joppa, at the home 
of " one Simon a tanner," Peter had the extraordi- 
nary vision (Acts 10 : 9-16) which issued in the 
command of the Holy Spirit in reference to the 
messengers from Cornelius : " Go with them, noth- 
ing doubting, for I have sent them " (Acts 10 : 20). 
And Peter, rising above the teachings and prejudices 
of a lifetime, disregarding all possible censure and 
misunderstanding, was, like Saul of Tarsus, " not 
disobedient unto the heavenly vision" (Acts 
(26 : 19), but went and entered into the home of 
Cornelius and fearlessly and faithfully preached the 
glad tidings of salvation. A great forward step had 
been taken, the full significance of which would not 



y6 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

be understood until a new leader — Paul, the apostle 
to the Gentiles — should be raised up. 

3^ The first sermon to the Gentiles 

We have the outline of Peter's sermon on this oc- 
casion (Acts 10 : 34-43). The introduction was 
conciliatory : " I perceive that God is no respecter 
of persons." This was a new revelation to Peter, 
and he undoubtedly uttered it with great emphasis. 
Then he sought a common ground : " Ye yourselves 
know " in a general way about Jesus Christ and his 
work. Having thus admirably prepared the way he 
at once plunged into the great theme. 

(1) Jesus of Nazareth, anointed of God, went 
about doing good. Here is the wonderful sympa- 
thetic loving ministry of Jesus, and he added : " We 
saw all these things." 

(2) "They slew him" (ver. 39). At Jerusalem 
he said : " Ye by the hand of lawless men did cru- 
cify and slay." If it required courage for him to say 
"ye" at Jerusalem, it must have been even harder 
for him to say " they " at Caesarea. 

(3) "Him God raised up the third day" (ver. 
40, 41). Even to us chosen witnesses he appeared. 
How this testimony of Peter must have moved and 
thrilled his hearers. 

(4) " He is ordained of God to be the Judge of 
the living and of the dead" (ver. 42). All must 
stand before him to give an account of the deeds 
done in the body. 



The First Gentile Converts yy 

(5) " Through his name every one that believeth 
in him shall receive remission of sins " (ver. 4). 
The prophets were appealed to in confirmation and 
reinforcement of this glorious truth. It was a re- 
markable sermon, admirably adapted to meet the 
exigencies of a profoundly significant occasion. 

4. The outcome of the meeting 

" While Peter yet spake these words the Holy 
Spirit fell on all them that heard the word" (Acts 
10 : 44). They heard the word — in the sense of ac- 
cepting it. They received the message of life which 
Peter brought to them. And then as the Holy Spirit 
had fallen upon the Jews at first, so now he came 
upon the Gentiles, and in a striking manner set the 
seal of the divine approval upon this new departure 
in the work of the church. God not only authorized 
Peter by a special vision to do this work, but when 
the apostle had obeyed, he in a most unmistakable 
way endorsed what had been done. It would seem 
that ordinarily the special gift of the Spirit came 
after baptism, and through the laying on of the 
apostles' hands (Acts 8 : 12, 17-19; 19 : 5-7). But 
in this case it came before baptism and without the 
laying on of hands. Possibly Peter and those Jews 
with him needed this special and immediate mani- 
festation of the Spirit to convince them of the 
genuineness of the work and to lead them to see that 
no Jewish forms or rites were necessary in order to 
welcome these converts into the church. We may 



78 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

also conclude that it is wise to be very careful how 
we set up prescribed rules and conditions for the 
operations of the Spirit of God. 

Another question at once arose. Should these 
Gentile converts receive baptism just as the Jewish 
converts had ? Or must they receive certain Jewish 
rites first? This discussion is not stated. It may 
have been simply in the minds of some. But 
Peter came forward and said : " Can any man forbid 
the water that these should not be baptized who 
have received the Holy Spirit as well as we ; and he 
commanded them to be baptized in the name of 
Jesus Christ" (Acts 10 : 47, 48). 

There is probably no allusion here to the " mode 
of baptism." Some have supposed that the language 
implies the bringing of water for the purpose of 
baptism. But surely no one could have objected to 
the bringing in of a small quantity of water. If 
there was any objection of this character it might 
have arisen in connection with the use of the public 
baths or reservoirs for immersion. This entire 
thought, however, seems to be foreign to the nar- 
rative. These persons had received the message of 
salvation and the gift of the Holy Spirit; the water 
of baptism was, so to speak, waiting for them. 
Would any one refuse to them this ordinance? 

5. A conference at Jerusalem 

A report of what had taken place at Caesarea 
soon reached Jerusalem, and Peter's return was 



The First Gentile Converts 79 

evidently anxiously awaited by " the apostles and 
the brethren/' As soon as he arrived he was given 
a hearing (Acts 11 : 1-18). The charge brought 
against him was : " Thou wentest in to men un- 
circumcised and didst eat with them." This con- 
ference, it should be noted, did not take up the 
larger question of the relation of the Gentile con- 
verts to the Jewish law as was done some years later 
(Acts 15 : 1-29). The church was not yet ready 
for this question. Peter in no way denied or evaded 
the charge. But he proceeded to make two things 
very clear: first, his vision at Joppa, of which he 
gave a detailed account; and secondly, the fact 
of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles to 
whom he preached. He concluded with these sig- 
nificant words : " If then God gave unto them 
the like gift as he did also unto us when we be- 
lieved in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that 
I could withstand God?" The opposition was 
silenced and they " glorified God, saying, Then to 
the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto 
life" (Acts 10 : 17, 18). 

Quiz 

Who was the first to preach the gospel to the 
Gentiles? When, where, and to whom was this 
done? What deduction may be drawn from the 
character of the first Gentile convert? What spe- 
cially stood in the way of the conversion of the 



80 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Gentiles? What is the greatest hindrance to 
missions? How were Peter's prejudices overcome? 
Give an outline of Peter's sermon? What took 
place while Peter was yet speaking ? What was the 
decision in reference to the baptism of these Gentile 
converts ? Why was a conference held in Jerusalem 
at this time? How did Peter answer the charge 
brought against him? What was the result of his 
reply ? 

Suggested Topics 

The centurions mentioned in the New Testament. 
Caesarea at this time. 
How does the Holy Spirit speak to me ? 
Peter's character as seen in the first twelve chap- 
ters of Acts. 



CHAPTER X 

A NEW LEADER CALLED 

The forces of expansion in the church were work- 
ing with increasing power. The time was rapidly 
approaching when these forces must be directed and 
utilized in carrying out the larger mission of the gos- 
pel. Jerusalem, saturated in Judaistic conceptions, 
could not continue to be the center of operations; 
and leaders must be found who would break away 
entirely from Jewish prejudices and legalism and 
recognize fully the universal character of Christi- 
anity. Saul of Tarsus was chosen of God to come 
to the front at this significant period. 

i. His conversion 

The first mention we have of him is in connection 
with the stoning of Stephen : " The witnesses laid 
down their garments at the feet of a young man 
named Saul" (Acts 7 : 58 ... "and Saul was 
consenting unto his death" (Acts 8:1). And a 
little later it is declared : " But Saul laid waste the 
church, entering into every house, and dragging men 
and women committed them to prison " (Acts 8:3). 
" And Saul yet breathing threatening and slaughter 
against the disciples of the Lord " (Acts 9 : 1), set 
out for Damascus, the Syrian capital, to bind and 

F 8l 



82 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

bring to Jerusalem all the Christians whom he could 
find. The journey must have taken nearly a week. 
The psalmist long before had said: " I thought on 
my ways, I turned my feet unto thy testimonies " 
(Ps. 150 : 59). Saul undoubtedly found time in 
this journey to think on his ways. Naturally there 
would be some reaction from the exciting scenes of 
persecution through which he had been passing. 
The tolerant teachings of Gamaliel may have filled 
his mind. And doubtless he saw again the trans- 
figured face of the martyred Stephen and heard 
again his masterly defense, until he found himself in 
that state described by the words : " It is hard for 
thee to kick against the goad " (Acts 26 : 14). He 
had almost reached the city of Damascus when the 
crisis came, and in the midst of a light brighter than 
that of the midday sun he saw the Lord Jesus and 
heard his voice. And Saul the persecutor was 
conquered and cried: " What shall I do, Lord?" 
(Acts 22 : 10) Three days of darkness and struggle 
followed, but the tide of his life turned that day on 
the Damascus road when the Lord Jesus met him. 

This conversion is usually spoken of as excep- 
tional and extraordinary, and most writers dwell 
upon its remarkable features. And yet the excep- 
tional and miraculous in it may be regarded simply 
as the divine emphasis upon the essential features in 
every conversion. Note three things revealed in 
the words: "What shall I do, Lord?" 

(1) There was conscious need. His pride was 



A Nezv Leader Called 83 

humbled, his self-reliance was gone, and he was 
prostrated. The old foundations were swept away 
and he was filled with a sense of helplessness. 
Every conversion springs out of sense of need. 

(2) There was faith in Christ. He was helpless, 
but not hopeless. He saw his wretched condition, 
but did not give way to despair. Something could 
be done, and the one whom he saw as central in 
that glorious light could give help. He saw himself 
in great need, but he saw Jesus, and so his cry : 
" What shall I do, Lord ? " was one of faith and hope. 

(3) And yet one thing more was submission to 
Christ. He had set out from Jerusalem with letters 
of authority from the high priest, but now he 
awaited orders from Jesus of Nazareth. Ever after 
he delighted to call himself the bond-servant of 
Christ. That day, near the city of Damascus, he 
found a Master worthy of his service, and he fully 
surrendered all to him. And the cry that sprang 
involuntarily to his lips " What shall I do, Lord?" 
became the watchword of his life. 

Thus the conversion of Saul of Tarsus with its 
exceptional features became for him and for all 
others a marvelous setting forth of the essentials of 
all true conversion : A sense of need, faith in Christ, 
and submission to him. 

2. His call to be the apostle to the Gentiles 

When Ananias, "a disciple at Damascus," was 
told to go to the blind but praying Saul of Tarsus 



84 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

it was with these words : " He is a chosen vessel 
unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and 
kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show 
him how many things he must suffer for my name's 
sake "(Acts 9 : 15, 16). And he tells us himself 
that some years later, when he was in Jerusalem, 
he had a vision while he was praying in the temple 
and the Lord commanded him : " Depart : for I will 
send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles " (Acts 
22 : 21). Thus his call was made unmistakably 
specific. He understood this perfectly and magnified 
the fact that he was " an apostle of the Gentiles " 
(Rom. 11 : 13; 1 : 5; Gal. 1 : 16; 2 : 7). 

3. His general preparation for this work 

The purpose in our present study does not call for 
a detailed review of the early life of Saul of Tarsus. 
We are, however, particularly concerned with those 
things which entered somewhat directly into his 
preparation for his great mission in later years. 

( 1 ) He was a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, " a 
citizen of no mean city" (Acts 21 : 39). His sur- 
roundings here must have had a profound influence 
upon his life. It was a " free city," governed by its 
own magistrates and exempt from Roman tribute. 
It was noted as a seat of literature and philosophy, 
and as a center of commerce. Here, during all his 
early years, he must have felt in a very marked way 
the potent influences of Gentile life. 

(2) He was a Roman citizen. To the chief 



A New Leader Called 85 

captain who said : " With a great sum obtained I 
this citizenship " Paul could reply with pride : " But 
I am a Roman born " (Acts 22 : 28). With Rome 
ruling the world this citizenship was a peculiarly 
valuable possession for one who had a mission to 
all the world. We shall see later how he had oc- 
casion to appeal to this fact of his citizenship. 

(3) He was an educated man. We do not know 
to what extent he attended the schools of Tarsus or 
imbibed the learning of that educational center. 
But with the type of mind which he possessed he 
must have profited by his surroundings; and his 
work in later years showed acquaintance if not 
familiarity with Greek literature and philosophy. 
But his more careful and thorough education was 
obtained in Jerusalem " at the feet of Gamaliel " 
(Acts 22 : 3), the " Great Rabbi," the " Beauty of 
the Law." Here he was trained in the laws and 
traditions of the Jews. " A Pharisee " and " the 
son of a Pharisee" (Acts 23 : 6), he sought to 
qualify himself at the feet of this truly great 
teacher, to render efficient service to his people and 
to his God. But in doing this he was unconsciously 
making preparation for a much larger service than 
he at that time conceived. 

4. His special preparation 

A period of eight or ten years elapsed from the 
time of his conversion until he entered upon his 
direct work as apostle to the Gentiles. Three years 



86 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

of this time were spent in Arabia and Damascus 
(Gal. i : 17, 18). Evidently these were years of 
retirement and study. He needed to study the 
Scriptures anew. His whole system of thought re- 
quired reconstruction. And at the same time he 
was awaiting orders from his new Leader. At the 
end of this time he preached with great power in 
Damascus and was compelled to flee for his life. He 
went to Jerusalem and began work there, but the op- 
position was so strong that he was sent to Tarsus 
(Acts 9 : 29, 30). And there at his old home he 
remained a number of years, until Barnabas sought 
him out and brought him to Antioch to help in the 
work there (Acts 11 : 25, 26). Almost nothing is 
known of Paul's life during these years at Tarsus. 
He doubtless preached in Cilicia, and went on with 
his studies. God takes time to prepare his workmen. 
Moses was forty years in Egypt and forty years in 
Midian getting ready for his life's work. But not 
only did Saul need preparation, but the field must 
also be made ready. The larger conception of the 
gospel was at work in the churches. The message 
of life was finding its way to the Gentiles, and a new 
center at Antioch was being provided ; and when the 
time came the new leader was ready. 

Quiz 

What was the growing need in the church ? What 
is the first mention of Saul of Tarsus ? Why did he 



A New Leader Called 87 

set out for Damascus? What occurred as he drew 
near the city? State the essential features of his 
conversion. With what message was Ananias sent 
to him? What claim did Paul make for himself? 
In what way was he probably influenced by his boy- 
hood surroundings? What does he say of his 
citizenship? Where and under whom was he spe- 
cially educated? How much time elapsed between 
his conversion and his entering upon his missionary 
work ? Where and how was this time spent ? Why 
this long period of waiting ? 

Suggested Topics 

Character and work of Gamaliel. 
The city of Tarsus. 

Variations in the different accounts of Paul's con- 
version. 

The most probable date of Paul's conversion. 



Part IT 
flmiocb as Center 

"And Also to the Greek" 



CHAPTER I 

ENTRANCE UPON A NEW PERIOD 

The period which we are now about to consider 
extends from the coming of Saul of Tarsus to 
Antioch, a. d. 44, until his death in Rome a. d. 68. 
The dates here given, and those found in subse- 
quent chapters, are taken from the chronological 
table found in Conybeare and Howson's " Life 
and Epistles of St. Paul." This period of about 
twenty-two years is mostly covered by the last 
sixteen chapters of the book of Acts. 

The central feature of these years was the 
establishing of Christianity among the Gentiles, 
and our present study has to do with the entrance 
upon this great work. Gentile converts, as we 
have seen, had been won before this, but there 
had been no well-defined effort in this direction. 
Now, however, an aggressive movement was 
begun for the evangelization of the Gentile 
world. 

At the threshold of this undertaking we may 
well pause to study with some care the situation. 

1. A glance at the world as then known 

There were vague reports of far-off lands and 
strange peoples, and Arabia and Babylonia and 

9i 



92 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

some other countries to the east were known. 
But the world which filled the thought of that 
day was confined almost wholly to those lands 
which lay contiguous to the Mediterranean Sea. 
Here were the nations of wealth, culture, and 
power. The Greek language and learning had 
gone everywhere, greatly facilitating communica- 
tion between different peoples, and preparing the 
way for the work of the early Christian mission- 
aries. Alexandria, in Egypt, had become a re- 
markable center of Greek culture. 

The authority of the Roman empire was ac- 
cepted by all these nations, so that Paul's Roman 
citizenship secured a ready passport wherever he 
wished to go. The Jews had been scattered all 
through these Mediterranean nations, so that 
everywhere, in all the important centers, their 
synagogues were found and their religious con- 
ceptions had become familiar to many. At the 
same time with the growth of wealth and learning 
and power throughout the Roman empire, there 
had been a loss of faith in the old-time religions 
and a growing tendency to extravagance and dis- 
sipation. It was a proud, selfish, dissatisfied, 
wicked, weak, and hopeless world. In the provi- 
dence of God the way had been made ready 
among these nations, and now the time had come 
for a great forward movement in the propaga- 
tion of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the inaugura- 
tion of his larger kingdom. 



Entrance Upon a New Period 93 

2. Antioch, the new center 

Naturally Jerusalem was the center of the first 
operations of Christianity. But conservatism was 
so pronounced there, and Judaistic conceptions so 
strong, that it could not be the center for the 
larger work upon which Christianity was about 
to enter. 

Three hundred miles to the north of Jerusalem, 
on the river Orontes, sixteen miles from the sea, 
was the famous ancient city of Antioch, " the 
queen of the East." It was the third city in 
wealth and population in the Roman empire. 
Gibbon estimates that it had a population at this 
time of at least half a million. This population 
was made up of all classes and nationalities. In 
touch with Palestine and the East, Antioch was 
also thoroughly identified with the Greek and 
Roman world. It thus occupied a peculiarly 
strategic position, fitting it in every way to be- 
come " the second capital of Christianity/' 

3. The church at Antioch 

Christian work was begun in this city shortly 
after the persecution following the stoning of 
Stephen. Disciples, whose names are not given, 
went " as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, 
speaking the word to none save only to Jews. 
But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and 
Cyrene who, when they came to Antioch, spake 
unto the Greeks, also preaching the Lord Jesus. 



94 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a 
great number that believed turned unto the Lord " 
(Acts ii : 19-21). 

Evidently these Gentile converts were at once 
received into the church, and this new church at 
this new center was made up of both Jews and 
Gentiles without any distinction. When the brethren 
at Jerusalem heard of the work in Samaria they 
sent Peter and John to look after it. So now when 
they heard of the ingathering at Antioch they sent 
Barnabas to counsel and help in the work. He 
was " a man of Cyprus " (Acts 4 : 36), and likely 
to take a liberal view of the situation. He was also 
" a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of 
faith " (Acts 11 : 24), and thus admirably quali- 
fied to meet the exigencies of the case. He worked 
on for a time with great success " and much people 
was added to the Lord." He saw the magnitude 
and possibilities of the work, and felt that he must 
have help. He was the one in Jerusalem, some years 
before, who had been the first to recognize the worth 
and come to the defense of the converted Saul of 
Tarsus (Acts 9 : 27). And now in this time of 
need of reenforcements at Antioch he thought at 
once of this bold and able preacher, " and he went 
forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul" (Acts 11 : 25), 
who undoubtedly was actively engaged in preaching 
the gospel and was readily found. He returned with 
Barnabas to Antioch, and " for a whole year they 
were gathered together with the church and taught 



Entrance Upon a New Period 95 

much people " (Acts 11 : 26). Thus this essentially 
Gentile church became thoroughly established and 
prepared to lead in a new movement. 

A very significant incident occurred during this 
time. There was a wide-spread famine, which seems 
to have been especially severe in Judea. When the 
church at Antioch heard of this, " every man accord- 
ing to his ability determined to send relief unto the 
brethren that dwelt in Judea" (Acts 11 : 29). 
Barnabas and Saul were selected to take these gifts 
to the elders in Jerusalem. The following facts 
should be carefully noted: 

(1) The spirit of true benevolence was mani- 
fested. "Every man," " according to his ability," 
gave. There would be no lack of funds for the 
Lord's work if all churches would give as this 
Antioch church gave. 

(2) The larger conception of brotherhood was 
also seen. This church was made up largely of 
Gentiles; yet they forgot all race distinctions and 
sent help to their Jewish Christian brethren. 

(3) Then too, it was an act that would tend to 
break down any prejudice which might exist in 
Judea against the new church at Antioch, and thus 
help to unite the forces of the gospel in the larger 
work of the kingdom. 

4. The new name 

" The disciples were called Christians first in An- 
tioch " (Acts 11 : 26). It matters little how this 



96 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

name originated, whether among the friends or the 
enemies of Christ; it was manifestly providentially 
provided at the time when it was needed. It was a 
name which concisely, comprehensively, and clearly 
expressed the central truth of the new religion. 

The composition of the name has often been 
pointed out. Christos is Greek, but the idea in the 
word is Hebrew, the Anointed One, the Messiah. 
It is really a Greek word with a Hebrew meaning. 
The suffix, ianus, is Latin. So that the name Chris- 
tians is a blending of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, 
meaning " partaking of " or " having the quality of 
Christ/' And thus a name was given which was 
most admirably adapted to the demands of this 
significant period in the growth of our religion. 

5. A new departure 

The spread of the gospel heretofore had been 
largely without any prearranged plan or definite 
purpose on the part of the workers. Scattered by 
persecution, they had simply gone about preaching 
the word ; but now the time had come for a definite 
sending forth of men as missionaries to preach 
the gospel. 

To the devoted leaders in the church at Antioch 
there came from the Holy Spirit the command: 
" Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13 : 1-3). 
Several facts in connection with this command must 
not be overlooked: 



Entrance Upon a Nezv Period 97 

(1) It came to them while " they ministered to 
the Lord and fasted." The calls of God for larger 
service would be more frequently heard if there were 
more earnest waiting upon him. If we would have 
more ministers and missionaries there must be a 
deeper spiritual life in the church. 

(2) The call came to give up their best workers. 
How could the work at home be carried forward 
without Barnabas and Saul ? But " there is that 
giveth and yet increaseth," and the church never 
suffers by giving her best for the work of the 
world's evangelization. And the best is unquestion- 
ably needed for the great missionary enterprise. 

(3) It was a call to the church. Barnabas and 
Saul were called, but the church through its repre- 
sentatives was also called. The church was to 
" separate " these men to the work. We are not to 
regard the " laying on of hands and prayer " as a 
formal ordination by which Barnabas and Saul were 
inducted into " the gospel ministry," for both of 
them had already been for some time preaching the 
gospel; but it was rather a setting apart to this 
special service to which the Holy Spirit had desig- 
nated them, and also an expression of the church's 
participation in, and responsibility for, this great 
undertaking. 

Quiz 

What are the limits of the period we are about to 
study? The central feature of this period? What 



98 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

were the limits of the ancient known world? In 
what way had these nations been prepared for the 
gospel ? Where was Antioch ? In what way was it 
fitted to be a new center for Christianity? Who 
established the church at Antioch? Who was sent 
from Jerusalem? What was the character of this 
new church? Why did Saul come here to labor? 
What significance attached to their sending help to 
Judea? In what way was the new name peculiarly 
fitting? How were Barnabas and Saul called and 
set apart to missionary work? 

Suggested Topics 

The city of Antioch. 

The extent of the use of the Greek language at 
the time of Paul. 

Scriptural teaching on ordination. 

Religion in Greece and Rome at this period. 

A study of the names of the leaders in the An- 
tioch church. 



CHAPTER II 

Paul's missionary journeys 

Paul had probably passed the forty-fifth year of his 
age when he entered upon his aggressive mission- 
ary work. What are commonly known as his three 
missionary journeys covered a period of about ten 
years, extending from his departure from Antioch, 
a. d. 48, to a. d. 58, the time of his final visit to 
Jerusalem. Our plan of study does not contemplate 
an extended consideration of these missionary jour- 
neys, but rather a comprehensive view of them in 
their relation to the missionary zeal and early spread 
of Christianity. 

1. The time of each of these journeys 

The first, the record of which is found in Acts 
13 : 4 to 14 : 27, occupied about a year, being much 
shorter than the others. Following this first journey 
the conference at Jerusalem was held, and something 
over a year elapsed before the second tour was 
undertaken. This covered a period of about three 
years, the record of which is found in Acts 15 : 36 
to 18 : 22. The third journey, Acts 18 : 23 to 
21 : 15, was undertaken shortly after the comple- 
tion of the second, and extended over a period of 
about four years. 

99 



ioo The Young Christian and the Early Church 

2. Countries and cities visited 

The first journey was confined to the island of 
Cyprus, the native place of Barnabas (Acts 4 : 36), 
and the southeastern portion of Asia Minor, in the 
provinces not far removed from Cilicia in which 
Paul's home was located and where he had been 
working before going to Antioch. Eight towns and 
cities were visited, principal among which were 
Antioch of Pisidia, and Iconium. 

The second journey was much more extended. 
After visiting the churches established during the 
first tour, and also going throughout Phrygia and 
Galatia (Acts 16 : 6), Paul went westward several 
hundred miles to Troas, and there had the vision of 
the man of Macedonia, saying, " Come over into 
Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16 : 7). This call 
was at once obeyed, and at the ancient city of 
Philippi the first converts in Europe were made — 
and the first church established. Amphipolis, Apol- 
lonia, Thessalonica, and Berea were visited in Mace- 
donia, and then Paul went to Athens, and later to 
Corinth, where he remained about a year and a 
half, and then returned to Antioch by the way of 
Ephesus and Jerusalem. This second missionary 
journey must always be associated with the intro- 
duction of the gospel into Europe, and the protracted 
stay at Corinth. 

The third journey covered substantially the same 
ground as the second. At the famous city of 
Ephesus a great w T ork opened up and he remained 



PanVs Missionary Journeys 101 

there nearly three years. After that he made a 
somewhat hurried trip through Macedonia, did 
some work in Illyricum (Rom. 15 : 19), and then 
went south to Corinth to look after the church there 
which was having trouble. He then returned by 
way of Macedonia, and hastened to Jerusalem in 
order to reach that city in time for the feast of 
Pentecost. This third journey enlarged the work in 
regions that had already been visited, but is to be 
associated particularly with the great work done at 
Ephesus. 

3. Paul's associates in his missionary journeys 

Great men gather about themselves strong help- 
ers. Paul knew how to enlist capable workers in the 
enterprise in which he was engaged. At the outset 
it was " Barnabas and Saul " who were separated 
unto the work (Acts 13 : 2, j). But soon the order 
of the names was changed. Saul had now fairly en- 
tered upon his mission to the Gentiles and he at once 
came to the front. Just at this significant point his 
Hebrew name Saul ceased to be used, and his Roman 
name Paul was employed (Acts 13 : 9). And 
thereafter it was no longer " Barnabas and Saul," 
but "Paul and Barnabas" (Acts 13 : 43, 46, 50). 
During the year that they had labored together at 
Antioch they were sent to Judea with contributions 
for those who were suffering because of the famine. 
Upon their return they brought with them " John, 
whose surname was Mark" (Acts 12 : 25). He 



102 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

was a relative of Barnabas (Col. 4 : 10), and there 
are many reasons for regarding him as the evangel- 
ist Mark. He was an associate of Paul and Barnabas 
at the outset of this journey. But at Pamphylia he 
" departed from them and returned to Jerusalem " 
(Acts 13 : 12). No explanation is given for his 
conduct, but whatever his reasons were Paul was 
not satisfied with his course (Acts 15 : 39). Barna- 
bas was the only one with Paul during the balance 
of this first journey. 

The associates in the second journey were Silas, 
or Silvanus, Timothy, and Luke. A sharp dis- 
agreement between Paul and Barnabas in reference 
to taking John Mark with them again, caused their 
separation (Acts 15 : 36-40). Silas, whom Paul se- 
lected to go with him, was one of the " chief men 
among the brethren " whom the conference at Je- 
rusalem (Acts 15 : 22) selected to bear letters to 
the Gentile brethren in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. 
Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess and whose 
father was a Greek, was a native of Derbe or Lystra, 
and was evidently converted during Paul's previous 
visit to these places (Acts 16 : 1-3). Luke's name 
is not mentioned in the narrative, and his presence 
with Paul is known only by the introduction of the 
first personal pronoun. The first instance of this 
is at Troas (Acts 16 : 10), and continues until 
Paul and Silas were in Philippi, a short time after- 
ward (Acts 16 : 17). Luke evidently was not 
arrested with them, and there is no evidence that he 



Paul's Missionary Journeys 103 

was with them during this journey after they left 
Philippi. Silas and Timothy continued with him, 
and later for a short time Priscilla and Aquila were 
also his associates (Acts 18 : 2, 18). 

As Paul started upon his third missionary tour 
there is no mention of any companions whatever 
(Acts 18 : 23), but later Erastus and Timothy are 
named as being among them who ministered unto 
him (Acts 19 : 22). " Gaius and Aristarchus, men 
of Macedonia/' are also mentioned as his com- 
panions in travel (Acts 19 : 29). And still others 
are given who accompanied him (Acts 20 : 4). 
Luke also joined him again, probably at Philippi 
(Acts 20 : 5, 6), and continued with him until they 
reached Jerusalem, the end of this third missionary 
journey (Acts 21 : 15). 

4. The more prominent events of each of these journeys 

The judgment of blindness upon Elymas the 
sorcerer, and the conversion of the pro-consul 
Sergius Paulus at Paphos, in Cyprus (Acts 13 : 6- 
12) ; Paul's great sermon at Antioch in Pisidia 
(Acts 13 : 16-41) ; the opposition of the Jews and 
the direct and positive turning to the Gentiles (Acts 
13 : 44-48) ; the persecution at Iconium (Acts 14 : 

5, 6) ; the healing of the lame man at Lystra ; the su- 
perstition of the people and their attempted worship 
of Paul and Barnabas, soon followed by the stoning 
of Paul (Acts 14 : 8-20) ; the revisiting of the 
churches to encourage them and to appoint elders 



104 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

for them (Acts 14 : 22, 23), constitute the principal 
events of the first missionary journey. 

The second journey, as we have seen, was much 
more extended, and consumed much more time than 
the first. It was during this journey that " the de- 
crees from the apostles and elders at Jerusalem " 
concerning the position and duties of the Gentiles 
were delivered to the churches (Acts 16 : 4). The 
Holy Spirit forbade them to preach in Asia, and 
restrained them from going into Bithynia (Acts 
16 : 6, 7), plainly directing their course to Troas 
where came the vision of the man of Macedonia, and 
the call to enter Europe (Acts 16 : 9). Then fol- 
lowed in rapid succession the conversion and bap- 
tism of Lydia and her household (Acts 16 : 14, 15), 
the healing of the damsel possessed with a spirit of 
divination, the consequent trouble and imprisonment, 
the miraculous deliverance from prison, together 
with the conversion of the jailer and his household, 
Paul's assertion of his rights as a Roman citizen, 
and their departure from Philippi (Acts 16 : 16-40). 
A little later Paul visited Athens and preached on 
Mars' Hill (Acts 17 : 22-31). Then followed the 
year and a half of work in Corinth (Acts 18 : 1-18), 
which was of the utmost importance in establishing 
the gospel in Europe. The brief stop at Ephesus 
(Acts 18 : 19-21) on his return trip in this second 
journey was important as preparing the way for 
his great work there a little later. 

As we follow Paul in his third journey many in- 



Paul's Missionary Journeys 105 

teresting events are to be noted. There was the 
meeting of Paul and Apollos at Ephesus, and later 
the baptism, or rebaptism, of the twelve disciples 
of John the Baptist, who knew nothing about the 
Holy Spirit (Acts 19 : 1-7). Then followed the 
three years' work at Ephesus, during which time 
the surrounding regions were also reached, and 
many churches established (Acts 19 : 26; 20 : 31). 
Then came the riot led by Demetrius the silversmith 
(Acts 19 : 23-41), and after that Paul's departure 
to revisit the churches in Greece and Macedonia 
(Acts 20 : 1). And then followed his return to 
Jerusalem with the interesting stops on the way at 
Troas (Acts 20 : 6-12), at Miletus (Acts 20 : 
17-38), at Tyre (Acts 21 : 3-6), at Ptolemais (Acts 
21 : 7), and at Caesarea (Acts 21 : 8-14). The 
spirit of the great apostle amid all of these stirring 
and trying events is strikingly seen in his reply to 
the brethren at Caesarea who tried to persuade him 
not to go to Jerusalem : " What do ye, weeping and 
breaking my heart? For I am ready not to be 
bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the 
name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21 : 13). 

Quiz 

How old was Paul when he entered upon his mis- 
sionary work ? What period is covered by the three 
missionary journeys? What time was occupied by 
each? Where was work done during the first 



106 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

journey? The second? The third? Who were 
Paul's associates during each of these journeys? 
How is Luke's presence indicated? When was he 
with Paul? When and why was the name Saul 
exchanged for Paul? What were the principal 
events of each journey? 

Suggested Topics 

A study of Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. 

An outline of Paul's sermon at Antioch of 
Pisidia. 

The separation of Paul and Barnabas. 

The worship of Diana. 

The distances traveled in each missionary 
journey. 



CHAPTER III 

GENTILE CHRISTIANS AND JEWISH LAW 

After Peter had preached the gospel to the Gentile 
Cornelius, he was called upon by " the apostles and 
the brethren that were in Judea " to explain how it 
was that he had gone in unto and had eaten with 
men who were uncircumcised (Acts II : 1-4). This 
conference did not attempt to settle the questions in- 
volved in receiving the Gentiles into the church. 
They simply listened to Peter's recital of the way 
God had made his will known and rejoiced that 
also unto the Gentiles he had granted repentance 
unto life. But the work at Antioch, and Paul's first 
missionary journey brought this whole question of 
the Gentiles to the front for settlement. On what 
terms should they be received into the church, and 
should Jewish and Gentile Christians mingle freely 
with each other ? When the work first began in An- 
tioch we recall that Barnabas was sent from Jeru- 
salem to look after it, and that he soon secured the 
assistance of Paul. They evidently taught the true 
spirit of gospel liberty in receiving the Gentiles 
into the church. For some reason Peter not long 
afterward came to Antioch (Gal. 2 : 11). It is 
quite possible that the church at Jerusalem was not 
satisfied with the reports which came from the 

107 



108 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Syrian city. Peter, upon his arrival, fell in with 
Barnabas and Saul, and mingled freely with the 
Gentile Christians and ate with them. But when 
" certain came from James" (Gal. 2 : 12-14) who 
did not approve this course in connection with the 
Gentiles, Peter, and even Barnabas, drew back and 
separated themselves from their Gentile brethren; 
but with great earnestness Paul withstood this re- 
actionary course and insisted that the Gentiles must 
not be brought into bondage to the ceremonial law ; 
and it would seem that for the time Paul's teaching 
prevailed. But during his absence on his first mis- 
sionary tour these Judaizing teachers evidently were 
active, and upon his return he found strife and di- 
visions. Unable to adjust matters " the brethren 
appointed that Paul and Barnabas and certain other 
of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles 
and elders about this question" (Acts 15 : 2). 
Thus sent, they proceeded at once to Jerusalem, and 
upon their arrival one of the most important Chris- 
tian conferences ever convened was held. 

1. The character of the gathering 

This assembly in Jerusalem has frequently been 
calld the first Christian council. But inasmuch as a 
council is made up of delegates from various 
churches, this gathering could not properly be so 
designated. And yet the germinal idea of the council 
is undoubtedly here. Two gatherings are men- 
tioned. First, " they were received of the church, 



Gentile Christians and Jewish Law 109 

and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed 
all things that God had done with them " (Acts 
15 : 4). This was evidently a preliminary meeting. 
Then, probably the following day, " the apostles 
and the elders were gathered together to consider 
this matter" (Acts 15 : 6). That the whole 
church was also present and participated in the pro- 
ceedings is evident from subsequent statements. 
" And all the multitude kept silence, and they heark- 
ened unto Barnabas and Paul" (Acts 15 : 12). 
Then, in reaching a conclusion it is declared : " It 
seemed good unto the apostles and the elders, with 
the whole church to choose men out of their com- 
pany," etc. (Acts 15 : .22). This is important as 
showing the participation of the whole church in 
Jerusalem in these deliberations. 

2. The question before this Conference 

" And certain men came down from Judea and 
taught the brethren, saying, except ye be circumcised 
after the custom of Moses ye cannot be saved " 
(Acts 15 : 1). This is a concise statement of the 
question as it was raised in Antioch, which led to 
the sending of the delegation to Jerusalem. Paul 
and Barnabas stated the matter to the conference as 
follows : " There rose up certain of the sect of the 
Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to 
circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law 
of Moses " (Acts 15 : 5). 

It is readily seen that this question was of vital 



no The Young Christian and the Early Church 

import. These Judaizing teachers proposed to 
make Christianity simply an addition to Judaism. 
The Gentiles could not partake of Christ's gracious 
work unless they would become obedient to the 
Mosaic ceremonial law. To become Christians they 
must also become Jewish proselytes. On the other 
hand, Paul and those with him maintained that the 
ceremonial law was in no way binding upon the 
Gentiles. Christianity was something higher, larger, 
and apart from Judaism. The Gentiles could come 
to Christ and be saved without any reference to the 
Mosaic law. Such was the fundamental, far-reach- 
ing question which was before this conference. It is 
well to note here the fact that this question had 
nothing to do with the Jewish Christian's relation 
to the ceremonial law. That question would come 
up later. For the present it was the question of the 
Gentile Christian and the Jewish law. 

3. The deliberations of this Conference 

Evidently those present realized in large degree 
the importance of the gathering, and the proceedings 
were marked by a gravity and dignity in keeping 
with the vital character of the matter under con- 
sideration. First, there was much general dis- 
cussion (Acts 15 : 6), which is not recorded. Then 
Peter arose and addressed the meeting. The real 
greatness of Peter's character is manifest in his 
course at this time. In a moment of weakness, at 
Antioch a year or more before, he may have sided 



Gentile Christians and Jewish Law 1 1 1 

with the Judaizing party, but now he stood boldly 
forth, told his own experiences in preaching the gos- 
pel to Cornelius, and insisted that God had received 
the Gentiles by faith, without the intervention of any 
ceremonial observance. And then he uttered these 
remarkable words : " Now therefore why make ye 
trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the 
neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor 
we are able to bear ? But we believe that we shall be 
saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in like 
manner as they" (Acts 15 : 10, 11). It was a 
noble epoch-making address, and prepared the way 
for a favorable consideration of the words of Paul 
and Barnabas who then rehearsed " the signs and 
wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles 
through them" (Acts 15 : 12). And now the time 
had come for James, " the brother of our Lord," the 
pastor of the Jerusalem church, and the head of the 
conservative party, to speak. He too made a re- 
markable address. He spoke in favor of the larger 
liberty, and based his argument upon two things: 
Peter's experience and " the words of the prophets " 
(Acts 15 : 13-18). And then he gave his judg- 
ment as to what ought to be done (Acts 15 : 19-21), 
and this was adopted by the " apostles and elders, 
with the whole church" (Acts 15 : 22). 

4. The findings of the Conference 

It was decided to write a letter " unto the brethren 
who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, and Syria, and 



112 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Cilicia" (Acts 15 : 23), and to send this letter by 
chosen men, Judas and Silas, " chief men among the 
brethren " (Acts 15 : 22). Three features of this 
letter (Acts 15 : 23-29) should be specially noted: 

(1) They disclaimed all responsibility for the 
work that had been done by those Judaizing teach- 
ers in Antioch. " Certain went out from us . . . 
to whom we gave no commandment." 

(2) There was a cordial indorsement of Paul 
and Barnabas. " Our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 
men that have hazarded their lives for the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 

(3) And then followed the "necessary things" 
which the Gentile Christians should observe: a. 
" Abstain from things offered to idols " ; b. " from 
blood " ; c. " from things strangled " ; and d. " from 
fornication." These findings were in some measure 
a concession to Jewish prejudices, but as there was 
no allusion to circumcision, and as the things re- 
quired had much more to do with moral than with 
ceremonial matters, the outcome of the conference 
was in every way a great triumph for the gospel 
truth. 

Were the decisions of this conference authoritative 
or advisory? Two things are to be noted in answer- 
ing this question. First, the initiative was with the 
Antioch church. The Jerusalem church did not 
exercise any authority over them, but they sought 
advice and counsel from Jerusalem; and secondly, 
the form of the communication sent out was not 



Gentile Christians and Jewish Law 113 

mandatory, but rather suggestive and advisory. " It 
seemed good unto us, having come to one accord " 
(Acts 15 : 25), and " It seemed good to the Holy 
Spirit and unto us " (Acts 15 : 28). They speak of 
the unanimity of their decision, and the approval of 
the Holy Spirit in order to give weight to it. This 
would have been entirely unnecessary had it been 
an authoritative body issuing decrees which would 
be binding upon the churches. 

Quiz 

What was the occasion of the first conference in 
Jerusalem (11 : 1-4)? What question was made 
prominent by the work in Antioch and the first mis- 
sionary journey? Why did Peter go to Antioch, and 
what course did he pursue? How did the Antioch 
church propose to settle its trouble ? Was the gather- 
ing in Jerusalem a council? Who participated in 
this conference ? What was the question before the 
conference ? What position did Peter take ? What 
was James' argument? What was the outcome of 
these deliberations ? Were the decisions of this con- 
ference authoritative or merely advisory? 

Suggested Topics 

The great ecumenical councils. 
The place and value of modern church councils. 
Modern Christian Jews and Jewish rites. 
James, the brother of our Lord. 

H 



CHAPTER IV 

PERSECUTIONS AND IMPRISONMENTS 

When Ananias was sent to Saul of Tarsus in Da- 
mascus the Lord said : " I will show him how many- 
things he must suffer for my name's sake " (Acts 
9 : 16). Much of that which he suffered was inci- 
dent to the exposures and trials of his journeys. 
" In perils of rivers, in perils of robbers ... in 
perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea ... in 
labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and 
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness " 
(2 Cor. 11 : 25-27). But there were other trials 
which were much worse. " Of the Jews five times 
received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I 
beaten with rods, once was I stoned. ,, He says he 
was " in perils from my countrymen ; ... in perils 
among false brethren" (2 Cor. 11 : 24, 26). The 
missionary enterprise from the first has been marked 
by heroic sacrifice and suffering. 

1. Reasons why Paul was persecuted by the Jews 

Paul did not suffer much direct persecution at 
the hands of the Gentiles. At Philippi he was seized 
by the authorities and thrown into prison at the 
instigation of those who had been making " much 
gain " from the soothsaying of a damsel, possessed 
114 



Persecutions and Imprisonments 1 1 5 

of a spirit of divination, whom Paul healed (Acts 
16 : 16-24). And at Ephesus serious opposition 
was stirred up by Demetrius, a silversmith, whose 
business of making " silver shrines for Diana " was 
seriously interfered with by the work of Paul (Acts 
19 : 23-27). While the Roman authorities im- 
prisoned Paul later, it was through the direct 
influence of the Jews. And the persecutions he 
suffered during his missionary journeys were nearly 
all brought about by the Jews. 

There were two causes which operated to produce 
this persecution: 

(1) First, there was jealousy. The first serious 
opposition which arose as Paul and Barnabas set 
out upon their work, was at Antioch in Pisidia. The 
cause of the trouble is thus stated : " But when the 
Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with jeal- 
ousy and contradicted the things spoken by Paul 
and blasphemed " (Acts 13 : 45). The people were 
tired of the empty forms of Judaism, and wherever 
Paul went preaching in the synagogues multitudes 
were eager to hear. And this roused the jealousy 
of those who were the teachers of a lifeless tradi- 
tionalism. 

(2) But a second cause was the teaching of Paul. 
He opened wide the door of the gospel to the Gentile 
world. He utterly repudiated the traditions and 
prejudices of the rabbis, and taught that God " made 
of one every nation of men " (Acts 17 : 26) and he 
preached a religion " where there cannot be Greek 



n6 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, bar- 
barian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is 
all, and in all" (Col. 3 : 11). Jewish ceremonial- 
ism must give place now that Jesus had come. 
Thus it appeared to the Jews that Paul's teachings 
were utterly subversive of Judaism, and so they 
bitterly and persistently opposed him. 

2. Persecutions during his missionary journeys 

At Antioch in Pisidia during the first tour " the 
Jews urged on the devout women of honorable 
estate and the chief men of the city and stirred up a 
persecution against Paul and Barnabas and cast 
them out of their borders " (Acts 13 : 50). They 
went to Iconium. Here again the Jews stirred up 
violent opposition : " And when there was made an 
onset both of the Gentiles and the Jews with their 
rulers to treat them shamefully and to stone them, 
they became aware of it and fled unto the cities of 
Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the region round 
about" (Acts 14 : 5, 6). There they preached and 
multitudes were reached. " But then came Jews 
thither from Antioch and Iconium, and having per- 
suaded the multitude, they stoned Paul and dragged 
him out of the city, supposing that he was dead " 
(Acts 14 : 19). Though Paul and Barnabas on 
their return visited each of the cities where they had 
preached, there is no record of further persecution 
here. This may have been due in part to the fact 
that their second visit was not so much for general 



Persecutions and Imprisonments 117 

public work as it was to encourage and strengthen 
the churches. 

The first recorded trouble with the Jews during 
the second missionary journey was at Thessalonica. 
There " the Jews being moved with jealousy took 
unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble and 
gathering a crowd set the city in an uproar " (Acts 
17 : 5) ; and Paul and Silas went on to Berea. 
But here through the influence of Jews from Thessa- 
lonica, persecution again broke out, and Paul went 
to Athens and thence to Corinth. Here again the 
Jews bitterly opposed him, and endeavored to stop 
his work, but he refused to be driven out and con- 
tinued his labors for a year and six months. This 
was done, doubtless, in the face of constant perse- 
cution. 

There is very little recorded persecution by the 
Jews during the third missionary journey. At the 
beginning of the three years' work in Ephesus there 
was the usual conflict with the Jews (Acts 19 : 
8, 9). But they, apparently, were powerless in that 
great city to interfere seriously with his work. 
Later when Paul made a visit into Greece there was 
a plot to kill him, which he found out, and which 
led to the change of his course in returning to 
Jerusalem (Acts 20 : 2, 3). 

It is an interesting fact that in practically all the 
places where Paul encountered the severest opposi- 
tion and persecution, there vigorous churches were 
established, 



n8 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

3. Paul's arrest at Jerusalem 

During his return from his third missionary 
journey Paul had repeated intimations that there 
was trouble ahead, and that bonds and imprisonment 
awaited him. But he declared : " I am ready not to 
be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the 
name of the Lord Jesus " (Acts 21 : 13). Immedi- 
ately upon his reaching Jerusalem he was gladly 
welcomed by the brethren, and reported at once to 
James and the elders " the things which God had 
wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry, 
and when they heard it they glorified God " (Acts 
21 : 17-20). James proposed a course for Paul 
which he thought would allay the suspicions of the 
Judaistic party (21 : 23-28), but it utterly failed, 
and soon Paul was at the mercy of a raging rabble 
that would have destroyed him had not the Roman 
authorities interposed and rescued him (Acts 21 : 
20-36). 

It is important not to overlook the real cause of 
this violent opposition to Paul. It was not that he 
had preached the gospel to the Gentiles. Nor was 
it that he had received the Gentiles into the church 
without their submitting to the Jewish ceremonial 
law. It was a new question now. " They have been 
informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the 
Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, 
telling them not to circumcise their children, neither 
to walk after the customs " (Acts 21 : 21). Was 
this information correct ? So far as the Jew was dis- 



Persecutions and Imprisonments 1 19 

posed to observe the ceremonial law as conforming 
to and preserving national life Paul made no objec- 
tion whatever, but when these laws and customs 
were presented as essentials to salvation either for 
Jew or Gentile then he opposed them and insisted 
that salvation was in Christ and in him alone. There 
was a distinction here that many of the Jews would 
not make, and they thought they saw in Paul's 
teachings a direct assault upon their national life 
and their peculiar position as the chosen people of 
God. Hence the violent opposition which led to 
Paul's arrest. 

4. The imprisonments which followed 

The period covered by Paul's missionary journeys 
was about ten years. These were years of intense 
activity. With his arrest at Jerusalem he entered 
upon another ten years, a. d. 58 to 68, which was 
spent largely in prison and was terminated with his 
martyrdom at Rome. Betw r een two and three years 
of this time were spent in prison at Csesarea. Then 
came the eventful voyage to Rome, consuming 
some eight or ten months. The imprisonment in 
Rome followed. Here he was given large liberties 
as a prisoner, " and he abode two whole years in his 
own hired dwelling and received all that went in 
unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teach- 
ing the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with 
all boldness, none forbidding him" (Acts 28 : 30). 
These words close the book of Acts. Writers are not 



120 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

agreed as to what happened after these two years. 
Paul seems to have been released for a time and to 
have revisited Macedonia (Phil. 2 : 24) and Asia 
Minor (Philem. 22), and possibly he went to Spain 
(Rom. 15 : 24, 28). Then followed his rearrest 
and imprisonment again at Rome when he wrote to 
his beloved Timothy : " I am already being offered, 
and the time of my departure is come " (2 Tim. 
4: 6). 

Paul's years of imprisonment were rich in fruit- 
age for the kingdom of God. He was permitted to 
preach to those who came to him. His influence in 
Rome reached even to Caesar's household (Phil. 
4 : 21). His courage inspired others and made 
them bold to speak the word of God (Phil. 1 : 14). 
His defenses (Acts 22 : 1-21 ; 24 : 10-25; 26 : 
1-32), made before the Jewish and Roman author- 
ities, were masterly expositions of the gospel; 
while the letters written during this time consti- 
tute an invaluable heritage to Christianity. 

Quiz 

In what ways was Paul called upon to suffer? 
Why did the Jews oppose and persecute him? 
What was the occasion of the trouble at Philippi? 
At Ephesus? What led to the stoning at Lystra? 
What troubles arose during the second missionary 
journey? What was the result of these various 
persecutions? What new question arose upon 



Persecutions and Imprisonments 121 

Paul's last visit to Jerusalem? What was his posi- 
tion in reference to it ? Where was Paul imprisoned 
and how long ? Why was he taken to Rome ? What 
helpful results came from Paul's imprisonment? 

Suggested Topics 

Ancient treatment of prisoners. 
Modern traffic in idolatrous images. 
Detailed account of Paul's voyage to Rome. 
Evidence of a release and second imprisonment 
at Rome. 

Paul's last days and death. 



CHAPTER V 

paul's letters 

Paul was greatly concerned for the welfare of the 
churches which he organized. He sought to make 
disciples and then to teach them to observe all 
things whatsoever Christ had commanded. He 
endeavored to conserve and make permanent his 
work. Hence his repeated visits to the churches 
which he established, and his letters to them of 
warning, encouragement, and instruction. Each of 
these letters has a most interesting historical setting 
and needs to be studied in the light of the circum- 
stances which called it forth. The purpose of our 
present study does not require a careful analysis 
of each Epistle, but simply the noting of its leading 
thoughts and its place in the beginnings of Chris- 
tianity. It hardly needs to be said that the notes 
appended to these letters in the King James version, 
purporting to give the places of their writing, are in 
no sense whatever a part of the inspired text. In 
several instances they are entirely misleading. 
Without attempting to go into the evidences bearing 
upon the question of the place where each was 
written we will accept the conclusions reached by 
Conybeare and Howson as being on the whole 
reasonably satisfactory, 

122 



Pauls Letters 123 



1. Paul's first letters 

There is no record of his having written any 
letters until his second missionary journey. We 
recall that during this journey he spent a year and 
six months at Corinth. But shortly before going to 
this city he preached the gospel in Thessalonica, a 
city of Macedonia, not far from Philippi. Though 
driven out of this place by persecution, he did not 
go until a strong church had been gathered. We 
read of his work there : " And some of them were 
persuaded and consorted with Paul and Silas, and 
of the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the 
chief women not a few" (Acts 17 : 4). During 
the earlier part of Paul's stay at Corinth word 
came to him of the trials and needs of the church at 
Thessalonica, and he wrote to it what is known as 
First Thessalonians. This is the first recorded 
Epistle of the Apostle Paul, written probably a. d. 
52. It is full of appreciation, encouragement, and 
instruction. He seeks also to correct a mistake into 
which they had fallen concerning some who had 
died since he was there. They evidently thought 
that those who " fell asleep " before Christ's second 
coming would not enjoy the same privileges as those 
who should be alive at that great event. But Paul 
wrote them : " We that are alive, that are left unto 
the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede 
them that are fallen asleep" (1 Thess. 4 : 13-18). 
As this is Paul's first letter it is well to read and 
reread it, not only to learn of the condition and 



124 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

needs of this early Christian church, but also to see 
the character of Paul himself. One cannot carefully 
study this letter without being greatly drawn toward 
the writer of it. 

But Paul's words in reference to the second 
coming of Christ were misunderstood, and an un- 
warranted expectancy of that event was developed 
in the church, and so, later on in his stay at 
Corinth, he wrote another letter to this same church. 
In this second Epistle he says : " Now we beseech 
you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him ; 
to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your 
mind, nor be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, 
or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord 
is just at hand ; let no man beguile you in any wise ; 
for it shall not be except the falling away come first 
and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition " 
(2 Thess. 2 : 1-12). This second letter also is full 
of the earnestness and warmth of a great heart. 

2. Letters written during his third missionary journey 

About three years of Paul's third missionary 
journey, as we have seen, were spent at Ephesus. 
There was ready means of communication between 
Corinth and Ephesus, and during his stay at the 
latter place he must have had frequent reports 
from the Corinthian church. The conditions there 
led to the writing of a letter which has not been 
preserved (1 Cor. 5 : 9-12) ; and later to the sending 



Paul's Letters 125 



of what is known as the First Epistle to the Cor- 
inthians. A careful reading of this Epistle shows 
that it was written to correct abuses and meet dif- 
ficulties which had arisen in the church at Corinth. 
There were divisions in the church and a serious 
case of wrong-doing calling for discipline, and 
brethren were going to law with each other before 
unbelievers. There were questions arising relative 
to marriage, to things offered to idols, to the support 
of the ministry, to the Lord's Supper, to spiritual 
gifts, to the resurrection of the dead, and to Chris- 
tian beneficence. All of these Paul dealt with in 
this letter in a most direct and comprehensive 
manner. 

When he left Ephesus at the close of his long term 
of labor there he went to Troas, where he expected 
to meet Titus with word from Corinth (2 Cor. 2 : 
12, 13), but he did not come, and Paul went on into 
Macedonia, probably to Philippi, where he met 
Titus (2 Cor. 7 : 5, 6), and was greatly comforted. 
Titus brought encouraging news from the church 
at Corinth. The former letter had borne good fruit, 
and yet the church still needed instruction, en- 
couragement, and warning. And there at Philippi 
Paul wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. 
There is a note of depression running through the 
Epistle which some suppose was in part due to 
physical suffering which the apostle was enduring 
(2 Cor. 7 : 5; 12 : 7-10; 4 : 16). 

A few months later he left Macedonia and visited 



126 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Corinth in person (Acts 20 : 1-3). Here word 
reached him of the defection among the churches of 
Galatia. Judaizing teachers had come in and were 
doing great harm. The Epistle to the Galatians at 
once followed. Its severity, directness, and power- 
ful presentation of the truth of the gospel reveal the 
gravity of the situation and the dangerous nature of 
the error that was being promulgated. 

At this time Paul had in his mind a definite pur- 
pose to visit Rome (Acts 19 : 21). Undoubtedly 
many converted elsewhere had gone to Rome, and 
a strong church had been formed there. Many of 
the members of this church were personal friends 
of Paul (Rom. 16 : 1-16). And so, with his pur- 
posed visit in mind, before leaving Corinth he wrote 
a letter to the church in Rome. Influenced doubtless 
by the Judaizing tendencies in Galatia to which his 
mind had just been directed, which emphasized the 
necessity of a clear and comprehensive statement of 
gospel truth, and recognizing the commanding posi- 
tion of the capital of the empire, he wrote a letter 
which, more than any other writing that has come 
from the pen of man, has influenced the thought and 
molded the doctrine of Christianity. 

3, Letters written during his first imprisonment at Rome 

If Paul wrote any letters from the time he left 
Corinth in his last missionary journey until he 
reached Rome as prisoner some three or four years 
later they have not been preserved. 



Paul's Letters 127 



Considerable liberty was granted him at Rome. 
As a prisoner in his own hired dwelling he was per- 
mitted to receive his friends. Thus it was that mes- 
sages reached him from the fields where he had 
formerly labored. Onesimus, a runaway slave from 
Colossae, was converted at Rome, and Paul wrote 
a letter to his master, " Philemon, our beloved 
fellow-laborer " (Philem. 1:1), and sent Onesimus 
back not as a slave but as a brother. Epaphras, also 
from Colossae (Col. 1:7), came to Rome and re- 
ported the incoming of errors into the church in 
reference to the worship of angels, gnostic philos- 
ophy, and observance of Jewish festivals. This 
led to the writing of the Epistle to the Colossians. 

The letter to the Ephesians, written about this 
same time, was probably designed for all the 
churches in the region around about Ephesus, and 
was written to meet conditions quite similar to those 
in Colossae. 

Epaphroditus came to Rome from Philippi with 
an offering for Paul from the church there. Doubt- 
less he also brought many heartfelt messages of 
friendship and Christian love. Paul was deeply 
moved by these tokens of regard and wrote the 
Epistle to the Philippians, full of affection and 
appreciation. 

4. Letters written between imprisonments at Rome 

After two or three years' imprisonment at Rome 
it is probable that Paul had his liberty for several 



128 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

years before his final imprisonment and death. Dur- 
ing this period of freedom he wrote two letters, 
i Timothy and Titus. The places from which 
they were written are largely a matter of conjecture ; 
the former possibly from Macedonia and the latter 
from Ephesus. The purpose for which they were 
written is apparent. Paul was an old man, deeply 
concerned for the welfare of the churches, and in 
these letters he gave earnest counsel to two young 
pastors as to their duties and responsibilities in the 
care of the churches. 

5. Paul's last letter 

Paul was again in prison in Rome, and evidently 
under harder conditions than before (2 Tim. 1 : 16, 
17; 4 : 10-13). Timothy, his " true child in faith " 
(1 Tim. 1:2), had been a great comfort and help 
to him for many years. It is not surprising then that 
" Paul the aged " (Philem. 1 : 9), as he drew near 
the end and realized that the time of his depar- 
ture had come (2 Tim. 4:6), wrote his last letter 
to his beloved Timothy ; nor is it surprising that the 
last written words of the great apostle of the grace 
of God should be " Grace be with you." 

+ 4-4* 
Quiz 

In what way did Paul seek to strengthen the 
churches which he established? Are the notes ap- 
pended to Paul's letters in the Common version re- 



Paul's Letters 129 



liable? Why is it important to know the circum- 
stances under which Paul wrote his letters? What 
was his first letter? Where and why written? 
What led to the writing of 2 Thessalonians ? What 
letters did he write during his third missionary 
journey? What led to the writing of the Epistle to 
the Galatians? Under what circumstances was the 
Epistle to the Romans written? Where and why 
were the following written: To Philemon? To 
the Colossians? To the Ephesians? To the Phil- 
ippians? What can be said of 1 Timothy and 
Titus? Where, when, and to whom was the last 
letter written? 

Suggested Topics 

Carefully tabulate Paul's letters as to time and 
place of writing. 

Evidences that Paul did not write Hebrews. 

Loss to the church had Paul written no letters. 

Conditions in Corinth that led Paul to write 
1 Corinthians. 



CHAPTER VI 

LABORS OF OTHERS DURING THIS PERIOD 

During the period which we are now studying 
Paul and his associates occupy the foreground. It 
would be a great mistake, however, to suppose that 
others were not engaged in the work of preaching 
the gospel and establishing churches. But the scrip- 
tural allusions to their work are very meager. Tra- 
ditions, however, to supply this lack are very 
abundant. These tell how each of the apostles was 
assigned a portion of the then known world and 
went forth to heroic, self-sacrificing, and successful 
work. It is doubtless true that many of these tra- 
ditions are based upon fact, and that not only the 
apostles but also many others of the early disciples 
became efficient missionaries of the cross. But in 
our investigation we will pass these traditions by to 
consider simply the Scripture records. 

i. The work of unnamed laborers 

Unquestionably a vast amount of work was done 
during this time by those whose names are wholly 
unknown to the annals of earth. As we have 
already seen, the church at Antioch was established 
by those whose names are not given. Paul wrote 
his most important Epistle, " to all that are in Rome, 
130 



Labors of Others During this Period 131 

beloved of God, called to be saints" (Rom. 1:7). 
But there is no record of the establishing of this 
church in Rome, and we do not know who first 
preached the gospel in the imperial city. Among the 
seven churches mentioned in the opening chapters of 
Revelation, only one of them, that at Ephesus, is 
referred to in the book of Acts as having been es- 
tablished by the Apostle Paul. He may have visited 
some of these places, but the probability is that these 
churches were the result of work done by those 
whose names are unknown. A great work was be- 
gun in Egypt at this time, and a little later Alex- 
andria became a center of Christian learning and 
power. But practically nothing is known as to 
who inaugurated the work there. There is much 
encouragement here for the obscure workman. The 
man whose name is unknown to the world may in 
the kingdom of God do a work of immeasurable im- 
portance — a work that will abide through the ages. 

2. John the beloved disciple 

Immediately following the day of Pentecost John 
was closely associated with Peter in the work, and 
it was Peter and John who were sent to look into 
and strengthen the work in Samaria (Acts 8 : 14). 
When the conference was held in Jerusalem to 
consider the relation of the Gentile converts to the 
Jewish law (Acts 15 : 6-29), "James, Cephas, and 
John, who seemed to be pillars " gave to Barnabas 
and Paul the right hand of fellowship (Gal. 2:9). 



132 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

In the subsequent records of the book of Acts there 
are no references whatever to John. But we learn in 
Revelation 1 : 9 that he " was in the isle that is 
called Patmos, for the word of God and the testi- 
mony of Jesus/' There is conclusive evidence that 
he was for a long period pastor in Ephesus, and 
his letters to the seven churches of Asia suggest his 
familiarity with the conditions and needs of that 
region. Doubtless he did much work there. But 
John's great contribution to the cause of Christ 
was his writings : his Gospel so full of the inner life 
and divinity of Jesus, his letters abounding in love 
and tenderness, and the book of Revelation so rich 
in prophecy of the coming triumph and glory. 
While it is difficult to fix the dates of these writings, 
it is probable that they were all written after the 
death of the Apostle Paul. 

3. James the Lord's brother 

James, the brother of John, one of the favored 
three in the apostolate, was beheaded by Herod 
(Acts 12 : 1, 2). There was another James among 
the Twelve, " the son of Alphaeus " (Matt. 10 : 3), 
called "James the Less" (Mark 15 : 40). Some 
have endeavored to show that " James the Lord's 
brother" (Gal. 1 : 19) and James the Less are the 
same. This attempt, however, has grown largely 
out of an unwillingness to admit that Jesus had any 
brothers in the flesh. The evidence is conclusive 
that the two are not to be regarded as one and the 



Labors of Others During this Period 133 

same. Of the work of James the Less we have no 
record. But James the Lord's brother (Matt. 13 : 
55; Mark 6:3; Gal. 1 : 19), became the leading 
man, evidently the bishop or pastor, of the church 
in Jerusalem (Acts 12 : 17; 15 : 13-20; Gal. 1 : 
19; 2 : 9). While he was a devout Christian, he 
leaned strongly toward the Judaistic party (Gal. 
2 : 12). It was he who proposed to Paul a com- 
promise, an expedient which he hoped would allay 
Jewish prejudice and prevent trouble (Acts 21 : 
18-28), but which, like most measures of that nature, 
utterly failed. James unquestionably had a pro- 
found influence over the Jews, and was much more 
liberal in his attitude toward the Gentiles than were 
many who professed to follow his teachings. 

This book of James, written by him " to the 
twelve tribes which are of the dispersion " (James 
1:1), lays great emphasis upon the practical as- 
pects of Christianity, and instead of being an 
" epistle of straw," as Luther called it, is an Epistle 
that greatly magnifies faith by exalting the works 
which faith must produce. 

4. Apollos the Eloquent 

Though Apollo^ and Paul met several times in 
their work they can hardly be called associates. 
After Paul's first brief visit to Ephesus, and before 
his return for his protracted period of labor there, 
" a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by 
race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, and he 



134 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

was mighty in the Scriptures " (Acts 18: 24). But 
he knew only the message of John the Baptist, and his 
work, therefore, was very defective. " But when 
Priscilla and Aquila," Paul's former associates, 
" heard him they took him and expounded unto him 
the way of God more accurately " (Acts 18 : 26). 
With letters from the Ephesian brethren he then 
went to Achaia where " he helped them much that 
had believed through grace, for he powerfully con- 
futed the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the 
Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ" (Acts 18 : 
2J, 28). His teaching evidently made a profound 
impression in Corinth for shortly afterward when 
Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, 
in referring to the division there, he mentions the 
fact that some said, " I am of Paul ; and I of Apollos ; 
and I of Cephas; and I of Christ" (1 Cor. 2 : 12). 
Paul did not admit any differences in the teach- 
ing of these leaders, but declared : " What then is 
Apollos? And what is Paul? Ministers through 
whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to 
him. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the 
increase " (1 Cor. 3 : 5, 6). It is probable that the 
information which led Paul to write from Ephesus 
his first letter to the Corinthians came through 
Apollos, who returned from Corinth to Ephesus and 
was there when Paul wrote this letter (2 Cor. 
16 : 12), and was strongly urged by the apostle to 
return to Corinth, but was unwilling to do so, his 
reason doubtless being the divisions which had 



Labors of Others During this Period 135 

arisen there with which his name was associated. 
Where his subsequent fields of labor were we do 
not know. But from Titus 3 : 13 we learn that some 
ten years later he was still in the work and com- 
mended by the Apostle Paul. Apollos seems to have 
occupied a somewhat medium ground between James 
and Paul. The fact that he was peculiarly strong in 
the Scriptures and especially effective in reaching 
the Jews and an eloquent and learned man, has led 
many to believe that he was the author of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. 

5. The Apostle Peter 

In the early part of the book of Acts Peter, as 
we have seen, stood in the foreground, but later on 
his name ceases to be mentioned. James became 
the head man in the church at Jerusalem, and Paul 
was the leader of the work outside of Palestine. 
The last mention of Peter in the book of Acts was 
at the conference at Jerusalem, where he delivered 
the address which undoubtedly contributed very 
largely to the favorable decision which was reached. 
But some seven years later Paul referred to him in 
a way to show that he was still actively engaged in 
the work of preaching the gospel (1 Cor. 9:5). 
The allusion to the Cephas party in Corinth ( 1 Cor. 
1 : 12), would seem to imply that he had done work 
there. We know that he visited Antioch (Gal. 
2 : 11), and his first Epistle addressed to " the 
dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and 



136 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Bithynia" (1 Peter 1:1), may imply that he had 
done work in these places. His allusion to Babylon 
(1 Peter 5 : 13) as the place from which he was 
writing, has been the occasion of much difference 
of opinion. Some insist that this name was applied 
to Rome and that he wrote from Rome. Others 
that there is no satisfactory reason for not taking 
it literally. The tradition that Peter went to Rome 
as bishop in the early forties and continued there 
for twenty-five years when he was crucified under 
Nero, is entirely incredible, for in A. d. 50 he was at 
the conference in Jerusalem, and in a. d. 57 he, with 
his wife, was in itinerant missionary work (1 Cor. 
9:5). And Paul, in his letter to the Romans, and 
in his long imprisonment in Rome, makes no allusion 
whatever to Peter. Babylon, the Assyrian capital, 
was nearer to Jerusalem than was Rome, and was 
the home of many Jews, and it would have been a 
very natural thing for Peter to go to them with the 
gospel. He may have gone to Rome after Paul's 
death and have been crucified there, but there is no 
scriptural evidence that he ever visited that city. 
The two Epistles of Peter have the earnest, prac- 
tical character which we should expect from him. 

Quiz 

What can be said of the traditions telling of 
work done by others aside from Paul and his as- 
sociates ? What about the unnamed laborers ? What 



Labors of Others During this Period 137 

work did John do? What was his great contribu- 
tion to the cause? Who was James and what did 
he do? What is the leading characteristic of the 
Epistle of James? Who was Apollos? Where did 
he labor? Why was Peter less prominent during 
this period than formerly ? Where did he labor and 
what letters did he write? What conclusive evi- 
dence is there that he did not have a twenty-five 
years' pastorate at Rome? 

Suggested Topics 

Evidence that Apollos wrote the Epistle to the 
Hebrews. 

Arguments, pro and con, for Peter's pastorate in 
Rome. 

John's pastorate at Ephesus. 

The date of John's writings. 

The different Jameses. 



CHAPTER VII 

ORGANIZATION AND WORSHIP 

Many statements and allusions in the book of 
Acts, and also in the Epistles, throw much light 
upon church organization and worship during this 
period. 

Two mistakes have been made at this point. One 
has been that of supposing that we have here a 
fully developed plan of church organization, that 
from the first there was a clearly defined ecclesias- 
tical polity in accordance with which these New 
Testament churches were all organized. The other 
mistake has been the going to the other extreme and 
regarding the whole question of church organiza- 
tion during this period as being entirely inchoate 
and indeterminate, there being no church polity at 
that time. Advocates of this view insist that Chris- 
tianity is life, and that life will assume forms and 
expressions best adapted to its environment. 
Hence, church polity may be as variable as the 
needs of different centuries and different peoples. 

But the truth lies between these two extremes. 
The permanent principles upon which church organ- 
ization and worship rest are found in the New 
Testament, and to the extent that the early churches 
found occasion to give expression to these principles 

138 



Organization and Worship 139 

they became the exponents of the polity of the 
church for all time. 

1. There was plurality of churches rather than one great 
all-embracing church organization 

There was the church at Jerusalem, and the 
church at Antioch, and at Ephesus, and at Corinth, 
and at Thessalonica, and at Philippi, and so on. 
There were also "the churches of Judea " (Gal. 
1 : 22), "the churches of Macedonia" (2 Cor. 
8 : 1), "the churches of Galatia " (Gal. 1:2), 
"the churches of Christ" (Rom. 16: 16), "the 
churches of God" (1 Cor. 11: 16), "the churches 
of Asia" (1 Cor. 16 : 1), "the churches of the 
saints" (1 Cor. 14: 33), "the seven churches 
that are in Asia" (Rev. 1:4), and other instances 
where the plural is used. 

In this connection two interesting questions arise. 

(1) What was the relation of these separate 
churches to each other? They were evidently bound 
together by close bonds of fellowship. The church 
at Antioch sought counsel from the church at 
Jerusalem (Acts 15:2). The Gentile churches sent 
relief to the poor in Judea (Acts 11 : 29, 30; 
24 : 17; Rom. 15 : 25, 26). Phoebe, a servant of 
the church at Cenchrese, was commended by Paul to 
the church at Rome (Rom. 16 : 1). While it is 
manifest that the churches were united in the bonds 
of truth and Christian brotherhood, it is also evident 
that there was no central organization, or authority 



140 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

of one church over another, but that each was inde- 
pendent in the conduct of its own affairs. 

(2) The second question relates to the fact that 
there was but a single church in each city. There 
was evidently but one church in Jerusalem, but one 
in Antioch, and but one in Ephesus. And the same 
is true of the other large cities. It is supposed by 
some that there may have been divisions and differ- 
ent places of meeting, but only one church. Some 
urge that if we would be true to the New Testament 
teaching we should have but a single church in any 
given city. For example, New York City should 
have but one church, with many meeting-places. If 
this is the true conception it is very difficult to see 
why city limits should be taken into the account. 
Surely all the suburbs of a great city should also 
come in. And in these days of dense population and 
rapid transit, why should not the County, and Prov- 
ince, and State, and nation also be included? There 
is really no stopping-place. But the New Testament 
principle is separate churches to meet the needs of 
different communities. In the immediate apostolic 
days this principle called for but a single church 
in a city, but later churches multiplied in the cities to 
meet the demands of the different sections and 
divisions of the city. 

2. The membership of the churches 

Many claim to-day that the church is for all who 
need help. If an unconverted person wants to come 



Organization and Worship 141 

into the church, bid him welcome and thus help 
him to better things. Where there is a union of 
Church and State, persons are born into the church 
and church-membership has very little to do with 
individual faith or character. But when we turn to 
the New Testament we find that church-membership 
was for those who had come into the blessings of 
salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The gospel was preached, men and women accepted 
the message and entered into church-fellowship with 
each other. In his letters to the churches Paul al- 
ways used terms in addressing them which showed 
that they were made up of converted persons. To 
the Romans he wrote : " Beloved of God, called to 
be saints" (Rom. 1:7). These are his words to 
the Corinthians : " Unto the church of God which 
is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ 
Jesus, called to be saints" (1 Cor. 1 : 2). The 
salutation to the Ephesians was : " To the saints 
that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus " 
(Eph. 1:1). But these quotations need not be 
multiplied. The New Testament churches were 
made up of those who had accepted Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God, as their Saviour and Lord. 

3. The organization of the church 

We have already, in Part I, Chapter V, noted the 
beginning of the divisions of labor in the Jerusalem 
church. The apostles, in order that they might give 
themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word, 



142 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

had seven men appointed to look after the proper 
distribution of funds among the dependent widows. 
On the one hand there were the spiritual interests 
of the church to be cared for, and on the other the 
temporal and material. Later on elders and deacons 
were the duly appointed officers for these two de- 
partments of work. During the first missionary 
journey Paul and Barnabas " appointed for them 
elders in every church " (Acts 14 : 23). This 
seems to have been in accordance with the plan of 
organization of the Jerusalem church (Acts 1 : 30). 
The church at Ephesus had elders (Acts 20 : 17). 
A part of the work assigned to Titus was to appoint 
" elders in every city " (Titus 1:5). James speaks 
of the " elders of the church " (James 5:4). Peter 
as a " fellow elder " had a special message for the 
elders (1 Peter 5:1). It is well to note here that 
there seems to have been a plurality of elders in each 
church. Another thing to be carefully observed is 
that the elders were also called bishops. After 
Paul had sent for the " elders " of Ephesus (Acts 
20 : 17) he addressed them as follows: " Take heed 
unto yourselves and to all the flock in which the 
Holy Spirit hath made you bishops " (Acts 20: 28). 
In the Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim. 5 : 1, 17, 19; 
3 : 2) and in that to Titus (1:5, 7) the terms 
bishop and elder are used interchangeably. The 
duty of the bishops or elders was the " care of the 
church of God " (i Tim. 3 : 5), " to feed the church 
of the Lord which he purchased with his own 



Organisation and Worship 143 

blood " (Acts 20 : 2j). They evidently had the 
spiritual oversight of the church. Peter wrote quite 
fully to the elders : " Tend the flock of God which is 
among you, exercising the oversight, not of con- 
straint, but willingly, according to the will of God; 
nor yet for filthy lucre but of a ready mind ; neither 
as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but 
making yourselves ensamples to the flock " ( 1 Peter 

5 : i-3). 

There were also deacons in the New Testament 
churches. Paul addressed " the bishops and dea- 
cons " in the Philippian church (Phil. 1:1). The 
only other direct reference to deacons is found 
in 1 Tim. 3 : 8-13. And here their duties are in 
no way described. What these duties were is 
largely a matter of inference. From the task 
assigned " the seven " (Acts 6 : 1-8) ; from the 
meaning of the word " deacon," " a servant, an 
attendant, a minister " ; and from the fact that the 
spiritual oversight of the church was committed to 
the elders, we conclude that the deacons were 
charged with the temporal and material interests of 
the church. 

We may pause here for a few words in reference 
to the present plan of organization of our Baptist 
churches. Ordinarily we have but one elder or 
pastor in each church. The deacons are associated 
with him in the spiritual care of the church, while 
the temporal interests are looked after, largely, by 
trustees and committees. These trustees and com- 



144 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

mittees, however, by whatever name called, are 
essentially servants or deacons of the church. While 
it might be well to conform more closely to the New 
Testament divisions of duties and names of officers, 
still there is room here for considerable latitude 
so long as there is a faithful maintenance of the 
principles upon which rest the simplicity and de- 
mocracy of the church of Christ. 

4. Life and worship 

There was manifestly a vigorous and aggressive 
life in the early churches. Many practical and doc- 
trinal questions arose for settlement, as is evidenced 
by the epistles to the churches. There were also 
divisions, and the early churches were far from 
being perfect. The necessity for church discipline 
and the expulsion of an unworthy member arose in 
the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 5 : 1-13). The call 
for patience, forbearance, and mutual helpfulness in 
the church became very apparent (Rom. 14 : 1 ; 15 : 
1-3; 12 : 10; Gal. 6:2; Phil. 4 : 1-3). 

The worship of the churches continued very 
simple. The homes were largely used as meeting- 
places, although central places of gathering became 
common. In Troas they met in an " upper cham- 
ber " where were "many lights" (Acts 20 : 8). 
The Corinthian church had a common meeting-place 
(1 Cor. 11 : 20), and in Heb. 10 : 25 there is an 
exhortation " not to forsake the assembling of our- 
selves together as the custom of some is." These 



Organization and Worship 145 

gatherings were for instruction, for prayer, for the 
Lord's Supper, for the exercise of gifts, and for 
song. Evidently from the first the gospel filled the 
churches with song. " Let the word of Christ dwell 
in you richly ; in all wisdom, teaching and admonish- 
ing one another with psalms, and hymns, and spir- 
itual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto 
God" (Col. 3 : 16; Eph. 5 : 19). There is no 
record of the observance by any church of the 
Jewish Sabbath, but the first day of the week, the 
resurrection day, " the Lord's Day " seems to have 
been adopted from the first as the meeting day for 
Christians (John 20 : 26; Acts 20 : 7; 1 Cor. 
16 : 2; Rev. 1 : 10). 

Quiz 

What two mistakes are made in reference to the 
New Testament and church polity? What is the 
fact in reference to plurality of churches? What 
was the relation of these different churches to each 
other ? Does the New Testament teaching call for one 
church only in a city ? What is the New Testament 
teaching as to the character of church-members? 
What division of labor early appeared in the church ? 
Who were the officers appointed ? What were their 
duties? What proof that elders and bishops were 
the same? What can be said of the church life 
of these early days ? What were the l'eading features 
of worship ? 



146 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Suggested Topics 

Evils of unregenerate church-membership. 
The plurality of elders. 
The question of deaconesses. 
Evidence that the early Christians observed the 
first day of the week. 

The ordination of elders and deacons. 



CHAPTER VIII 

BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER 

These ordinances have had so large a place in the 
history of Christianity, they have been the occasion 
of so much controversy and division, and have been 
connected with so much error that it seems desirable 
to note with special care their place and significance 
in the early years of Christianity. 

i. Baptism during this period 

It is evident that wherever converts were made 
they were at once baptized. At Philippi Lydia and 
her household accepted Christ and were immediately 
baptized (Acts 16 : 15). In the same city the 
jailer and his household heard the message from 
Paul and Silas and the same hour of the night were 
baptized (Acts 16 : 33). In Corinth " Crispus, 
the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord 
with all his house, and many of the Corinthians 
hearing believed, and were baptized " (Acts 18: 8). 
The historian Kurtz, writing of this period, says : 
" Baptism was administered by complete immersion 
in the name of Christ or else of the Triune God " 
(" Church History," Vol. I, Sec. 18). 

Several new questions in reference to baptism de- 
mand attention. 

*47 



148 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

(1) Household baptisms. 

Four household baptisms are mentioned: Lydia 
and her household (Acts 16 : 15), the jailer and 
his house (Acts 16 : 33, 34), Crispus and all his 
house (Acts 18 : 8), and the household of Steph- 
anas (1 Cor. 1 : 16). It is urged that in these 
households there must have been infants, and hence 
infant baptism has scriptural warrant. Two facts 
render this conclusion untenable. 

a. Wherever, elsewhere, the matter is clearly 
stated, belief always preceded baptism. There is no 
exception. And there is not a single instance where 
it is stated that a babe was baptized. 

b. In each of these cases of household baptisms 
the strong presumptive evidence is against there 
being any infants baptized. Lydia was a business 
woman some three hundred miles from home (Acts 
16 : 14). There is no evidence that she had either 
husband or family, and her household was doubt- 
less made up of those whom she employed. In the 
case of the Philippian jailer, it is declared that they 
spoke the word to all that were in the house, and that 
he with all his house believed in God (Acts 16 : 
32-34). In the case of Crispus it is distinctly de- 
clared that he believed in the Lord with all his house 
(Acts 18 : 8), and of the household of Stephanas it 
is stated : " Ye know the house of Stephanas that it 
is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have set 
themselves to minister unto the saints " ( 1 Cor. 
16 : 15). If there were infants in the household 



Baptism and the Lord's Supper 149 

they could not minister to the saints and so would 
not be in the thought of the writer. Nor could they 
believe on Christ, and so would not be in the mind 
of the apostle when he spoke of the baptism of the 
household. A far-fetched presumption, based upon 
a few household baptisms, ought to have no weight 
whatever in the face of the positive teachings else- 
where that personal acceptance of Christ is an 
unvarying prerequisite to baptism. 

(2) Baptism in relation to the church. 

In England many Baptist churches receive unim- 
mersed persons into church-membership, and there 
are a few advocates for the same course in this 
country. Was there anything in the early church 
to warrant this? This question has been closely 
associated with another: Is baptism the door into 
the local church ? If so, then, of course, no one ca*i 
get into the church except through the door. It is 
evident, however, that in New Testament times 
some, at least, were baptized without any reference 
to a local church. Such was true, for example, in 
the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul of Tarsus, 
and the centurion Cornelius. The door to the church 
is the way of entrance, and that way is the assent or 
vote of the body itself. But if one should decide 
that baptism is not strictly speaking the door of the 
church, he is not warranted in concluding that it is 
not necessary to church-membership. Regenera- 
tion is not the door to the visible church, but no one 
should be admitted without it. So it is practically 



150 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

certain that no one was admitted to the fellowship of 
the early churches without baptism, and to adopt 
such a course now would tend to an unscriptural be- 
littling of this ordinance and would undoubtedly 
promote discord and disorganization. 

(3) The meaning of baptism. 

Ideas of obedience, of cleansing, and of union 
with Christ were connected with this ordinance from 
the first, but came out into greater clearness as 
time went on. Peter emphasized the thought of 
obedience. This he made very plain on the day of 
Pentecost when he said : " Repent and be baptized 
every one of you." Later he wrote : " Which also 
after a true likeness doth now save you, even bap- 
tism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, 
but the interrogation of a good conscience toward 
God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ " ( I 
Peter 3 : 21). The argument is simple. The dis- 
obedient were lost in the days of the flood. Noah 
by his faith and obedience was saved. The waters 
did not save him, but his faith brought him through 
the flood. So baptism does not put away the filth 
of the flesh — Christ must do that — but it is the in- 
terrogation of a good conscience. It is the manifes- 
tation of a conscience ready to obey, and crying out 
like Saul of Tarsus : " Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do ? " Hence, in a word, baptism is a test of 
a conscience ready to obey the risen Christ. 

The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes the 
thought of cleansing : " Having our hearts sprinkled 



Baptism and the Lord's Supper 151 

from an evil conscience, and having our body 
washed with pure water" (Heb. 10 : 22). " The 
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all 
sin " and the complete washing of the body in bap- 
tism is a symbol of this gracious cleansing of the 
soul. 

Paul linked this obedience and cleansing with the 
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, together 
with our union with him by faith, and found in 
baptism a wonderful setting forth of all this : " Are 
ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into 
Christ Jesus, were baptized into his death ? We were 
buried, therefore, with him through baptism into 
death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead 
through the glory of the Father, so we also might 
walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6 : 3, 4). This 
same conception of the symbolism of baptism as a 
union with Christ in death and resurrection is found 
in his letter to the Colossians (2 : 12). A somewhat 
similar thought is presented in 1 Cor. 10 : 2: 
" And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and 
in the sea." As the children of Israel enveloped in 
cloud and sea went down into the depths with 
Moses and came up with him on the other side, 
with Egypt left behind and a new career before 
them, so we go down into the baptismal grave with 
Jesus and come up with the old life left behind, and 
a new course before us. 

To change the form of the ordinance is to lose 
all this vital and beautiful meaning. Grant that 



152 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

baptism is " simply a form " ; change the form and 
you have lost the substance. 

2. The Lord's Supper 

References to the Lord's Supper during this period 
are not numerous, but sufficient to set the ordinance 
in a clear light. 

( 1 ) The name. 

At the first, as we have already seen, this service 
was designated as " the Breaking of Bread. " And 
this expression continued to be employed (Acts 
20 : 7) ; but soon the term " The Lord's Supper " 
came to be used (1 Cor. 11 : 20). We also have the 
expression "The Lord's Table" (1 Cor. 10 : 21). 
Are there Scripture grounds for calling the ordi- 
nance "The Communion " as is now frequently done? 
The only passage bearing upon this is the follow- 
ing : " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not 
a communion of the blood of Christ? The bread 
which we break, is it not a communion of the body 
of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10 : 16) : If the word com- 
munion is used for the Lord's Supper it should 
always be borne in mind that it is primarily and 
essentially a communion with Christ and not with 
each other. 

(2) Frequency of observance. 

The Jews were accustomed to the daily sacrifices 
at the temple. Christ came, " the Lamb of God," 
and it would seem that in commemorating Christ's 
sacrifice the Christians at first continued " day by day 



Baptism and the Lord's Supper 153 

breaking bread " (Acts 2 : 46). Later this ob- 
servance appears to have become weekly. At Troas 
the disciples came together on the first day of the 
week to break bread (Acts 20 : 7). And in his letter 
to the Corinthians Paul wrote : " This do as often as 
ye drink it in remembrance of me " ( 1 Cor. 11 : 25). 

The frequency of the observance of this ordinance 
seems to be left to the judgment of God's people. 
It ought not to be so frequent as to render it unduly 
common, nor so infrequent as to make it strange. 

(3) The essential features and meaning of the 
ordinance. 

In correcting the abuses into which the Cor- 
inthian church had fallen, Paul gives very important 
instruction in reference to this ordinance. 

a. It is not an ordinary meal to satisfy hunger. 
" What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? 
. . . If any man is hungry let him eat at home " 
(1 Cor. 11 : 22, 34). The Lord's Supper is not a 
banquet. The Corinthians had greatly perverted it 
in making it a feast. 

b. It is a memorial of Christ's gracious saving 
work. " This is my body, which is for you . . . 
This cup is the new covenant in my blood. . . This 
do in remembrance of me" (1 Cor. 11 : 23-26). 

c. It is designed to make Christ known. " As 
often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye pro- 
claim the Lord's death till he come " ( 1 Cor. 
11 : 26). It is an announcement of a personal faith 
in the Christ who died and who is coming again. 



154 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

d. Abuse or neglect of this ordinance is attended 
with serious results. To eat and drink " in an un- 
worthy manner," not discerning the body of Christ, 
is to bring judgment upon one's self. " For this 
cause many among you are weak and sickly and not 
a few sleep" (i Cor. n : 27-30). To-day the 
trouble is not so much a perversion of the ordinance, 
as in the case of the Corinthians, as a neglect of it. 

4*4* + 
Quiz 

Why should the ordinances have special study? 
Do the " household baptisms " support infant bap- 
tism? If not, why not? Is baptism, strictly speak- 
ing, the door to the church? Should any one be 
received into the church without being baptized? 
What is the meaning of baptism ? What effect does 
the change of the form of the ordinance have upon 
the meaning? What names are used for the other 
ordinance? Which is preferable? How frequently 
should the Lord's Supper be observed? What are 
the essential features of the Lord's Supper ? 

Suggested Topics 

Non-Baptist scholars as to N. T. baptism. 
The symbolism of baptism. 
The origin of infant baptism. 
Modern abuses of the Lord's Supper. 
Frequency of observance of the Lord's Supper by 
different denominations. 






CHAPTER IX 

THE BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIAN GIVING 

We have already seen that in the Jerusalem church 
there prevailed at first a communism of goods. 
There is no evidence, however, that a similar practice 
existed in any of the other churches during this 
period. But the question of property and of giving 
must have received attention everywhere. No sub- 
ject with which we have to deal is of more practical 
importance than this, and many helpful sugges- 
tions and teachings come from the early days of 
Christianity. 

i. The objects for which money was given 

We find in these churches the beginnings of all the 
departments of Christian beneficence. 

(i) There were the collections to help the poor. 

A serious famine caused destitution and suffering, 
and in Antioch " the disciples, every man according 
to his ability, determined to send relief unto the 
brethren that dwelt in Judea; which also they did, 
sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and 
Saul "(Acts ii : 29, 30). And some years later 
among the churches of Macedonia and Achaia an 
offering was taken by Paul for " the poor among the 
saints at Jersualem " (Rom. 15 : 25, 26). 

155 



156 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

(2) Then there was giving for the support of 
local work. 

Paul stated the duty of the church very clearly in 
his letter to the Corinthians : " Know ye not that 
they that minister about sacred things eat of the 
things of the temple, and they that wait upon the 
altar have their portion with the altar ? Even so did 
the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel 
should live of the gospel." " If we sowed unto you 
spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap 
your carnal things?" (1 Cor. 9 : 11-14). And to 
Timothy he wrote in reference to the elders : " The 
laborer is worthy of his hire" (1 Tim. 5 : 18). 
As ample provision was made in the old dispensation 
for the care of the priests, so those who ministered 
in the things of the gospel should be cared for. 

(3) Offerings were also made for missionary 
workers. 

In referring to his own work and that of Peter 
and the other apostles, Paul wrote : " What soldier 
ever serveth at his own charges?" (1 Cor. 9:7). 
This plainly implies that those who give themselves 
to the work of spreading the gospel are entitled to 
support. At the beginning of the missionary enter- 
prise we are told : " Then when they had fasted and 
prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them 
away" (Acts 13 : 3). It would seem that one of 
the essential things in sending them away must 
have been some provision to meet their expenses. 
Later Paul received help from the churches. He 



The Beginnings of Christian Giving 157 

wrote : " In the beginning of the gospel when I 
departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship 
with me in the matter of giving and receiving but 
ye only, for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and 
again to my need " (Phil. 4 : 15). There is an im- 
plication here that later other churches also helped, 
and there is certainly a commendation of the course 
pursued by the Philippian church. The occasion 
for the writing of this Epistle was the coming of 
Epaphroditus to Rome with an offering for Paul. 

Thus we find here the beginnings of giving for the 
care of the needy, for the maintenance of home 
work, and for the spread of the gospel in the 
regions beyond. 

2. The basis of Christian giving 

The underlying thought in the communism in the 
Jerusalem church was this : " Not one of them said 
that aught of the things which he possessed was his 
own " (Acts 4 : 32). Here is the basis of Christian 
giving. " Ye are not your own, for ye are bought 
with a price " ( 1 Cor. 6 : 19, 20). Since we belong 
to Christ, all we have belongs to him, to be held 
subject to his call. 

In writing of the liberality of " the churches of 
Macedonia," Paul said : " But first they gave their 
own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of 
God " (2 Cor. 8:5). With this state of things we 
are not surprised that Paul could say of them: 
" For according to their power, I bear witness, yea 



158 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

and beyond their power, they gave of their own 
accord" (2 Cor. 8:3). 

We are simply stewards for the Lord, and " it is 
required in stewards that a man be found faithful " 
(1 Cor. 4:2). " For ye know the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet 
for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his 
poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). If 
Christians are to abound in the grace of giving (2 
Cor. 8:7) they must appreciate the divine sacri- 
fice in Christ for them, and must recognize the fact 
that they and all they possess belong to the Lord. 

3. Suggestions for Christian giving 

The New Testament is a book of principles rather 
than rules, and yet in this matter of giving we find 
very comprehensive and helpful plans and require- 
ments suggested. These call for very careful study. 

(1) Each member of the church should partici- 
pate. 

" Upon the first day of the week let each one of 
you lay by him in store as he may prosper " ( 1 Cor. 
16 : 2). Some can give much more than others, 
but no one should withhold his offering. The poor 
widow could give but two mites, but she could and 
did give them. The churches to-day may need 
larger gifts, but their greatest need is more givers. 

(2) This giving should be weekly. 

" Upon the first day of the week," Paul urged 
them to put aside their offerings. The first day of 



The Beginnings of Christian Giving 159 

the week was their day for rest and worship, and 
the time to remember in a special way the claims of 
God upon them. Weekly giving helps to keep the 
heart of the giver open all the time, and the streams 
of beneficence continually flowing. It is certain 
that no better plan for supplying the treasury of 
the Lord with funds can be found than that of the 
weekly offering. 

(3) The amount of the giving. 

" As he may prosper " are the words in the above 
passage. There are several other passages bearing 
upon this. " He that giveth let him do it with liber- 
ality " (Rom. 12 : 8), "He that soweth sparingly 
shall reap also sparingly, and he that soweth bounti- 
fully shall reap also bountifully " (2 Cor. 9:6). 
Referring to giving, Paul wrote again : " As ye 
abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and 
knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love 
to us, see that ye abound in this grace also " (2 Cor. 

8:7). 

There is no intimation that the members of the 
early churches practised tithing. But this fact 
does not prove that they may not have done so. It 
is certain that the call for liberal, bountiful giving, 
based upon the Christian's stewardship to the Lord, 
could not mean less than a tenth. We cannot believe 
that in writing to those who were redeemed through 
the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that Paul ever thought 
for a moment that they should give less than was re- 
quired under the Jewish law. On the other hand, 



160 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Paul's conception of the liberty of the gospel would 
not permit the placing of the Christians under the 
rigid exactions of the old law of tithing. The 
practice of tithing may be cordially commended so 
long as it does not pass over into legalism, and so 
long also as it does not represent the limit of Chris- 
tian responsibility. 

(4) The spirit of Christian giving. 

a. Personal honor must not be sought in giving. 
Christ denounced the hypocrites who sounded a 
trumpet before them in order that they might have 
glory of men for their almsgiving. Ananias and 
Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, but they did this 
because they were seeking credit for very generous 
giving. They wanted the glory of men, but received 
the awful judgment of God and became a warning 
for all time against display and selfishness in giving. 

b. Then there is the call for cheerfulness in giving. 
" Let each man do according as he hath purposed in 
his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God 
loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). " For if 
the readiness is there it is acceptable according as 
a man hath, not according as he hath not " (2 Cor. 
8 : 12). Giving should be a glad, joyous service, 
and we should " remember the words of the Lord 
Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to 
give than to receive " (Acts 20 : 35). 

(5) Great wisdom and care should be exercised 
in reference to giving. 

Paul's supreme mission was to preach the gospel, 



The Beginnings of Christian Giving 161 

yet he thought it worth his time to give very care- 
ful attention to supervising the collections which 
the churches were taking. The magnitude and com- 
plexity and ever-increasing wants of the work in 
modern times are so great that the best wisdom of 
the churches is called for to secure a wise, discrim- 
inating, and helpful dealing with the financial aspects 
of church life. 

(6) Love underlies all true giving. 

" If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and 
if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it 
profiteth me nothing" (i Cor. 13 : 3). Love to 
Christ, and to humanity, opens the heart, extends the 
hand, and sanctifies the gift. " Thanks be to God 
for his unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9 : 15). 

+ Hh + 
Quiz 

How extensively was communism adopted by the 
early churches? What were the objects for which 
contributions were made? Give the proofs in each 
case? What is the basis of Christian giving? What 
is a steward? Who should participate in giving? 
How frequently should offerings be made? How 
much should each one give? In what spirit should 
giving be done? What words of Christ should be 
remembered? How important did Paul regard this 
matter? Why is this subject one of special impor- 
tance now? What underlies all true giving? For 
what should we thank God? 

L 



162 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

Suggested Topics 

Weekly offerings for missions. 

The percentage plan. 

The question of tithing. 

The best plan to raise money for the Lord's work. 

The young people and church beneficence. 



CHAPTER X 

SURVEY AND SUMMARY 

The period which we have been studying may be 
regarded as closing with the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, A. d. 70. In concluding our investigation of 
this remarkable period of the beginnings of Chris- 
tianity we will do well to take a general survey of 
the ground we have been over. 

i. The outward growth 

Doctor Gulick, in his " Growth of the Kingdom of 
God," estimates that there were five million Chris- 
tians at the end of the first century. Of course, this 
is purely conjectural. Accepting this estimate, how- 
ever, as probable, it is not unreasonable to suppose 
that thirty years earlier the number may have 
reached well up into the millions. The gospel had 
so far extended that Paul could write to the Ro- 
mans : " Your faith is proclaimed throughout the 
whole world" (Rom. 1:8). To the Colossians he 
spoke of the hope of the gospel " which was preached 
in all creation under heaven " (Col. 1 : 23), and he 
also referred to the gospel " which is come unto you, 
even as it is also in all the world" (Col. 1:6). 
While the world was used particularly of the then 
known world, and the language used by Paul must 

163 



164 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

not be interpreted with too rigid literalness; still 
it certainly tells of the remarkable spread of Chris- 
tianity. The Mediterranean Sea had been practi- 
cally girdled with the gospel, and many remote 
peoples had been reached. 

2. The causes of this growth 

As we read the New Testament records and bear 
in mind the conditions under which the early Chris- 
tians wrought w r e see many things contributing to 
the success of their work. And yet it is most ex- 
traordinary that that little handful of disciples who 
came forth from that upper room on the day of 
Pentecost should have, within less than forty years, 
increased to millions, and filled the Roman world 
with their teachings. 

There is, of course, but one explanation for this : 
God was back of and in this new and wonderful 
movement. But God uses means and works through 
agencies to carry forward his work, hence we may 
look for those things which specially aided in the 
early spread of Christianity. 

( 1 ) Conditions confronting these workers. 

They were hard conditions. Sin abounded on 
every hand. Men were steeped in worldly ambitions 
and selfish pursuits. Religion was largely formalism 
without the vigor of faith or conviction. And yet 
these very conditions were in a sense favorable to the 
gospel. Thousands of the Jews, wearied with bur- 
densome traditions and ceremonials, hating the rule 



Survey and Summary 165 

of Rome and longing for the Messiah, were eager to 
hear the Christian message. The pagan religions 
utterly failed to meet the deeper longings of earnest 
souls, and many were ready for the new religion of 
purity, brotherhood, and hope. 

(2) The testimony of the apostles and early 
Christians. 

The promise was that they should receive power to 
become witnesses. Many of them had seen and known 
the Lord Jesus. They had beheld his miracles and 
had listened to his wonderful words, and had met 
him face to face after his resurrection from the dead. 
They were sane, intelligent, honest persons, and their 
testimony had marvelous power. 

(3) Then too, their message was a very simple 
and practical one. 

Paul wrote to the Colossians : " Take heed lest 
there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you 
through his philosophy and vain deceit after the tra- 
dition of men, after the rudiments of the world 
and not after Christ " (Col. 2:8). And to another 
church he declared : " I determined not to know 
anything among you save Jesus Christ and him cru- 
cified " (1 Cor. 2:2). Those early messengers 
came not with a philosophy, not with a system of 
penances and hard exactions, not with an elaborate 
religious ceremonial, but with a simple message of 
good tidings. " God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
on him should not perish but have eternal life/* 



166 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

" All have sinned and come short of the glory of 
God " — Jew and Gentile alike — and to all the door of 
mercy stands open, and whosoever will may come. 
" The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God 
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 
6 : 23). It was a direct practical appeal that all 
could understand and all could accept if they would. 

(4) Their lives confirmed their message. 

They arrested Peter and John and scourged and 
threatened them, but they said : " We ought to obey 
God rather than men," and went fearlessly forward 
in their work. Paul was stoned, was scourged, was 
imprisoned, but nothing could stop his bearing testi- 
mony to the saving power of Jesus Christ. The 
early Christians were filled with the spirit of heroic 
sacrifice. They rejoiced " that they were counted 
worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name" (Acts 

5 : 4i). 

And not only this, but their lives were trans- 
formed. They were not perfect, as the letters to the 
churches show, but wonderful transformations were 
wrought. Even to the Corinthian church Paul 
could confidently write : " Ye are our epistle, written 
in our hearts, known and read of all men " (2 Cor. 
3:2). The love, the brotherhood, the zeal, the in- 
tegrity, and the purity of these early disciples had a 
profound influence in the spread of the gospel. 

(5) The recognition of their mission. 

As in springtime all nature expands under the 
impulse of an inner life, so the early churches were 



Survey and Summary 167 

charged with the energy of enlargement. The Holy 
Spirit rilled them with a consciousness of a mission 
so that they could not keep still. " We cannot but 
speak the things we saw and heard " (Acts 4 : 19). 
" Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel " ( 1 Cor. 
9 : 16). This was not confined to the few, for 
when the Jerusalem church was scattered they went 
preaching the word. The essential spirit of the 
kingdom of God is conquest. " Make disciples of 
all the nations. " It was this conception which 
dominated the early workers and gave them such 
marvelous victories for the gospel of Christ. We 
to-day, may well study with great care the elements 
of power in the early churches that we may the 
better meet the responsibilities which confront us. 

3. The great problems of this period 

The church of God has always been confronted 
with grave problems. Each period has its own 
questions and conflicts. 

( 1 ) The most serious problem of this early period 
was that of Judaism. A strong party was deter- 
mined to make Christianity little else than an ad- 
dendum to Judaism. The Gentiles could become 
Christians, but they must at the same time accept 
the Jewish rites. The decision of the conference at 
Jerusalem, as we have seen, was a great victory for 
the larger conception of the gospel, and yet it did 
not stop the efforts of this Judaizing party. Paul's 
letters reveal the persistency and power of these 



168 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

workers. His long imprisonment at Csesarea, and 
at Rome, and probably his death, can be credited to 
the influence of his Judaistic enemies. It is urged 
by some that the awful cruelties of the persecutions 
under Nero were instigated by Poppaea Sabina, a 
convert to Judaism. But the true conception of the 
gospel had been planted throughout the churches, 
and with the destruction of Jerusalem, this Judaizing 
influence practically ceased. 

(2) But another problem — that of Christianity's 
relation to paganism — was coming to the front. The 
conflict at Ephesus was with the worshipers of the 
goddess Diana (Acts 19 : 23-41). It soon became ap- 
parent, that wherever Christianity went, it was the 
uncompromising enemy of all other religions. 
Christ could not accept a place with the other gods 
in the Roman Pantheon. And so the conflict with 
paganism began which was to continue more than 
two hundred years and be marked by the ten fearful 
persecutions led by the Roman emperors in their 
fruitless efforts to stamp out the Christian religion. 
The first of these persecutions, instigated by the in- 
famous Nero, occurred just at the close of the 
period which we are studying. The historian Taci- 
tus, who lived at this time, speaking of this perse- 
cution, says of Nero : " He inflicted the most 
exquisite tortures on those men who under the 
vulgar appellation of Christians were already 
branded with deserved infamy." He, of course, 
wrote from a pagan point of view. He states that 



Survey and Summary 169 

a vast multitude was put to death in a most shocking 
manner. But this awful persecution set in still 
clearer light the heroic and noble character of the 
Christians, and added great emphasis to the power 
of the gospel truth ; " the blood of the martyrs was 
the seed of the church/' 

A closing thought 

The early growth of Christianity gave promise of 
a speedy conquest of the whole world. But there 
came compromise, controversy, and failure, and the 
dark ages followed. But modern times have wit- 
nessed a great revival of primitive faith and mis- 
sionary zeal. The Holy Spirit is again leading on 
for the world's evangelization. There are enemies 
within the churches and without, who are opposing 
the work of God's people. It is a great campaign: 
in many respects the greatest of the ages. It looks 
as though it might be the closing campaign of the 
centuries. We need more of the faith, the prayer, 
the zeal, the sense of personal responsibility, and the 
enduement of the Holy Spirit which characterized 
the early Christians in their heroic work of conquest 
for Jesus Christ. 

4« + 4« 
Quiz 

What is Doctor Gulick's estimate of the number 
of Christians at the close of the first century? 
What expressions used by Paul indicate the wide 
extent of the spread of Christianity? What under- 



170 The Young Christian and the Early Church 

lying fact accounts for this growth? In what way 
were existing conditions in the Jewish and pagan 
world favorable to the spread of Christianity ? Why 
did the testimony of the early Christians have 
special power? What was the character of their 
message? How did their lives reenforce their mes- 
sage? With what did the Holy Spirit fill the early 
churches ? What serious problem extended through- 
out this period ? What great event marked its end ? 
In what way did Christianity come in conflict with 
paganism? What was the first of the " ten persecu- 
tions?" 

Suggested Topics 

Characteristics of a New Testament church. 
The destruction of Jerusalem. 
The persecution under Nero. 
References to the Christians by Tacitus. 
The needs of the churches to-day. 




JUL 10 1808 



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